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Fellowship of Friends

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
30
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Oregon House, CA
County
Yuba
Owner
Private
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

95962

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2007 to 2025.

Arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride, nitrate and total trihalomethanes (TTHM): California’s own results, samples taken from Nov. 24, 2020 to June 17, 2025.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

3.3ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 3.3 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

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

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

Very hard, typically 230 mg/L (13.5 grains per gallon), across 2 sampling points, 2021 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 13.5 grains per gallon, 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. 1 monitoring or reporting violation not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride, nitrate and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Fellowship of Friends’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 Nov. 24, 2020 to June 17, 2025.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Cranmer Engineering, Inc.

    Grass Valley, CA · about 14 miles

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

    (530) 273-7284

  • Fruit Growers Laboratory, Inc.

    Chico, CA · about 42 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (530) 343-5818

  • Onterris Laboratories, LLC

    El Dorado Hills, CA · about 50 miles

    Certified for organic chemicals, PFAS

    (916) 673-1520

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA5800863. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Yuba County

All California utilities

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