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Country Hills Estates

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
60 people
Connections
26
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Arroyo Grande, CA
County
San Luis Obispo
Owner
Private
Hardness
Soft
The ZIP code it serves

93420

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, and 1 more is above the limit’s level with no violation recorded. The worst: Lead, above the action level. 14 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2017 to 2025.

Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), chromium (total) and nitrate: California’s own results, samples taken from Aug. 26, 2020 to June 2, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the action level

17ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 17 ppb, above EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027, and this result is at or above that. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Above the limit’s level, no violation recorded1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the limit’s level, no violation

31.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 27.8 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 31.7 ppb, in 2022, about 3.2 times EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb. Its highest single sample was 52 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its four samples averaged 27.8 ppb, above the limit. 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 31 ppb, in 2012, and EPA recorded violations in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

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 limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

20ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 17 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 20 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 17 ppb.

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

0.92ppm

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2025

2025 average: 0.65 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.92 ppm, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 1.3 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.65 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.67 ppm, in 2016.

What handles it

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

5.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 4.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 5.8 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 4.4 ppb.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Chromium (total)
  • Nitrate

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

    For: Lead, Arsenic

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

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

    For: Lead, Arsenic

    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 water filters for lead, ranked

The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Hardness

Soft, typically 52 mg/L (3 grains per gallon), across 2 sampling points, 2019 to 2025.

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 3 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?California water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2019 to June 30, 20190.029 MG/LResolved
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2019 to March 31, 20190.03 MG/LResolved
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2018 to Dec. 31, 20180.032 MG/LResolved
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2018 to Sept. 30, 20180.031 MG/LResolved
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2018 to June 30, 20180.029 MG/LResolved
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2018 to March 31, 20180.03 MG/LResolved
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2017 to Dec. 31, 20170.04 MG/LResolved
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2017 to Sept. 30, 20170.04 MG/LResolved
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2017 to June 30, 20170.024 MG/LResolved
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2017 to March 31, 20170.039 MG/LResolved
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2016 to Dec. 31, 20160.026 MG/LResolved
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2016 to Sept. 30, 20160.026 MG/LResolved
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2016 to June 30, 20160.027 MG/LResolved
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2016 to March 31, 20160.028 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 1 monitoring or reporting violation not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), chromium (total) and nitrate results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Country Hills Estates’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. 26, 2020 to June 2, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Country Hills Estates’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 Country Hills Estates serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • County of San Luis Obispo Public Health Laboratory

    San Luis Obispo, CA · about 12 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (805) 781-5507

  • Fruit Growers Laboratory, Inc.

    San Luis Obispo, CA · about 12 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (805) 783-2940

  • Abalone Coast Analytical, Inc.

    San Luis Obispo, CA · about 12 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (805) 595-1080

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA4000637. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in San Luis Obispo County

All California utilities

What to do next