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Briceland C.S.D.

What EPA’s and California’s records show in this utility’s water: nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
75 people
Connections
28
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Garberville, CA
County
Humboldt
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Moderately hard
The 2 ZIP codes it serves

95542, 95589

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2003 to 2025.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, chromium (total), fluoride and haloacetic acids (HAA5): California’s own results, samples taken from Sept. 15, 2020 to Feb. 17, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Arsenic: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from June 2, 2015 to June 2, 2015. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

0.5ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 0.5 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits2

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

8.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 8.4 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.5 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.3ppm

Highest sample; found in 4 of 6

2025: not found

The highest sample, in 2024, was 0.3 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Fluoride
  • Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Hardness

Moderately hard, 98 mg/L (5.7 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, 2025 to 2026.

Hardness is calcium and magnesium. EPA sets no limit for it: it shows up as scale on fixtures and in water heaters, and as soap that won’t lather. USGS calls water above 60 mg/L moderately hard, above 120 hard and above 180 very hard.

Softeners compared at 5.7 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?California water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 2 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, chromium (total), fluoride and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Arsenic comes from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Briceland C.S.D.’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has newer results for those and the contaminants this page does not show.

  • Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.

  • What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.

  • Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 didn’t sample this utility; California’s results run from Sept. 15, 2020 to Feb. 17, 2026; EPA’s compliance samples are from June 2, 2015 to June 2, 2015.

Testing your own tap

Briceland C.S.D.’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab California certifies.

The 3 labs California certifies closest to the area Briceland C.S.D. serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Humboldt County Public Health Laboratory

    Eureka, CA · about 53 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (707) 268-2179

  • Microbac Laboratories, Inc. - Arcata

    Arcata, CA · about 59 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts

    (707) 822-4649

  • Alpha Analytical Laboratories, Inc. - Ukiah

    Ukiah, CA · about 73 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, radioactivity

    (707) 468-0401

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA1200587. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Humboldt County

All California utilities

What to do next