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City of Biggs

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
2,060 people
Connections
734
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Biggs, CA
County
Butte
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Varies by source
The ZIP code it serves

95917

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the health goal. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2006 to 2024.

Arsenic, nitrate, chromium (total), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride and haloacetic acids (HAA5): California’s own results, samples taken from Aug. 3, 2020 to June 10, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal2

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

5.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 4.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 5.0 ppb, in 2023: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 6.4 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 4.2 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 11 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

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

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

6.9ppb

90th percentile, 2022 to 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 6.9 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 limits4

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

8.3ppm

Highest sample; found in 19 of 19

2026 average: 3.1 ppm

The highest sample, in 2024, was 8.3 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 3.1 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 5.0 ppm, in 2017.

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

5.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 5.1 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. Its highest single sample was 7.6 ppb. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

2.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.6 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 5.2 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its two samples. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 2.8 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

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

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.11ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 0.087 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.11 ppm, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.13 ppm. In 2023, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 0.087 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.2 ppm, in 2015.

What handles it

One compound tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • 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.”

  • 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

    For: Arsenic, Lead

    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

Hardness

Hard to very hard depending on the source, 127 to 224 mg/L (7.4 to 13.1 grains per gallon), across 3 sampling points, in 2023.

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, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?California water hardness, utility by utility

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
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 2 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, nitrate, chromium (total), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. City of Biggs’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has 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 Aug. 3, 2020 to June 10, 2026.

Testing your own tap

City of Biggs’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 City of Biggs serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Fruit Growers Laboratory, Inc.

    Chico, CA · about 24 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (530) 343-5818

  • Cranmer Engineering, Inc.

    Grass Valley, CA · about 40 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (530) 273-7284

  • Eurofins Sacramento Service Center

    West Sacramento, CA · about 58 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (626) 386-1221

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA0410001. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Butte County

All California utilities

What to do next