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City of Loyalton

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
983 people
Connections
341
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Loyalton, CA
County
Sierra
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Varies by source
The ZIP code it serves

96118

The short answer

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

What handles it

What was found

Arsenic, nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), chromium (total), fluoride and haloacetic acids (HAA5): California’s own results, samples taken from July 21, 2020 to March 11, 2025, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

9.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 9.0 ppb, in 2020: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. In 2025, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 2.0 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”

Below EPA’s limits2

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.44ppm

Highest sample; found in 4 of 10

2025 average: 0.2 ppm

The highest sample, in 2021, was 0.44 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.2 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.43 ppm, in 2015.

What handles it

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

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.58ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.58 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

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

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

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

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

At the tap, or for the whole house?

These come with the water itself, so a whole-house system certified for the same claims treats every tap and shower. A filter at the tap treats drinking water for much less. 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

Hardness

Moderately hard to hard depending on the source, 110 to 170 mg/L (6.4 to 9.9 grains per gallon), across 2 sampling points, in 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, 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 3 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), 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. City of Loyalton’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 July 21, 2020 to March 11, 2025.

Testing your own tap

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

  • SGS Silver State Analytical Lab - Reno

    Reno, NV · about 28 miles

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

    (775) 857-2400

  • Cranmer Engineering, Inc.

    Grass Valley, CA · about 51 miles

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

    (530) 273-7284

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA4610001. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Sierra County

All California utilities

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