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Charles Brown Water Company

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
242 people
Connections
31
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Shoshone, CA
County
Inyo
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

92384

The short answer

1 result is above the limit’s level with no violation recorded, and 2 more are above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the limit’s level, no violation. 2 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2014 to 2027.

Arsenic, fluoride, nitrate, chromium (total) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM): California’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 9, 2020 to June 22, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Uranium: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Aug. 14, 2019 to Aug. 14, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the limit’s level, no violation recorded1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the limit’s level, no violation

21.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 10 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 21.3 ppb, in 2020, about twice EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb. Its highest single sample was 95 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its seven samples averaged 10 ppb. EPA judges this limit on running averages at each sampling point, and recorded no violation for arsenic at this utility since 2020. Results like these with no violation often include water sampled before treatment or blending; the utility’s annual report says what reaches the tap. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 23.3 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Above the health goal2

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

2.5ppb

90th percentile, 2025 to 2027

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 2.5 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

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

3.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2019

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.5 ppb, in 2019: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. That is the only year on file.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits3

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

1.8ppm

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2025

2025, one sample: 1.7 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.8 ppm, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 1.7 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.4 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.5ppm

Highest sample; found in 4 of 5

2025, one sample: 0.43 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 0.5 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.43 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 2.1 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.0 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

One compound tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

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.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claims: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Arsenic, Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Lead Reduction, Uranium

    For: Arsenic, Lead, Uranium

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

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 reverse osmosis systems, ranked

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Lead and Copper Rule RevisionsThe required inventory of lead service lines was not completed or submitted on time.EPA: LSL InventoryOct. 17, 2024—Unaddressed
Revised Total Coliform RuleColiform or E. coli results required a detailed review of the system, and it or its fixes were not done on time.EPA: Treatment Technique, Level 2 Assessment (RTCR)July 1, 2023—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 7 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, fluoride, nitrate, chromium (total) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Uranium comes from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Charles Brown Water Company’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 Jan. 9, 2020 to June 22, 2026; EPA’s compliance samples are from Aug. 14, 2019 to Aug. 14, 2019.

Testing your own tap

Charles Brown Water Company’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 2 labs California certifies closest to the area Charles Brown Water Company serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • ASSET Laboratories

    Las Vegas, NV · about 56 miles

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

    (702) 307-2659

  • Western Environmental Testing Laboratory - Las Vegas

    Las Vegas, NV · about 56 miles

    Certified for bacteria, minerals and other inorganics

    (705) 355-0202

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA1400004. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Inyo County

All California utilities

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