Hardwick 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
- 69 people
- Connections
- 40
- Water source
- Groundwater
- Based in
- Hanford, CA
- County
- Kings
- Owner
- Private
- Hardness
- Soft
The ZIP code it serves
The short answer
1 result is above EPA’s legal limit. The worst: Uranium, above the legal limit. 2 health-based violations since 2016.
What handles itWhat was found
Nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total) and fluoride: California’s own results, samples taken from Oct. 30, 2020 to Oct. 30, 2025, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.
Uranium and total trihalomethanes (TTHM): EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Jan. 3, 2012 to Oct. 26, 2018. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.
Above the legal limit1
Uranium
Comes from the source
63.4ppb
Highest yearly average, 2012 to 2017
2017, one sample: 6.9 ppb
Averaged by year, the highest was 63.4 ppb, in 2012, about twice EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb. Its highest single sample was 72.9 ppb. In 2017, the latest year on file, its one sample was 6.9 ppb. EPA recorded violations for uranium at this utility in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Uranium”
Below EPA’s limits1
Nitrate
Comes from the source
0.81ppm
Highest sample; found in 2 of 6
2025, one sample: 0.81 ppm
The highest sample, in 2022, was 0.81 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.81 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 4.1 ppm, in 2014.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
- NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
5 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
- Arsenic
- Chromium (total)
- Fluoride
- Lead
- 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 58
Claim: Uranium
For: Uranium
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
None of the filters TapBuff has checked so far carry these claims. Search the certifier listings for the claim above.
Compare five-year costsHardness
Soft, 35 mg/L (2 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, 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.
Violations since 2016
| Contaminant or rule | Type | Period | Measured | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lead and Copper Rule Revisions | The required inventory of lead service lines was not completed or submitted on time.EPA: LSL Inventory | Oct. 17, 2024 | — | Unaddressed |
| Combined Uranium | The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Average | Jan. 1, 2016 to March 31, 2016 | 37 PCI/L | Resolved |
| 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. Nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total) and fluoride results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Uranium and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Hardwick 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 Oct. 30, 2020 to Oct. 30, 2025; EPA’s compliance samples are from Jan. 3, 2012 to Oct. 26, 2018.
Testing your own tap
The 3 labs California certifies closest to the area Hardwick Water Company serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Fruit Growers Laboratory, Inc.
Visalia, CA · about 13 miles
Certified for bacteria
Sierra Dairy Laboratory
Tulare, CA · about 17 miles
Certified for bacteria
BSK Associates
Fresno, CA · about 32 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, PFAS, radioactivity
Sources
- EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data, file of Oct. 15, 2026
- EPA SDWA bulk download (SDWIS federal data), 2026 Q3
- California State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, results from Jan. 1, 2020 to July 17, 2026, read Oct. 8, 2026
- EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, file of Feb. 5, 2024
- Certified labs: California State Water Resources Control Board, ELAP accredited laboratories and their fields of accreditation, read Oct. 17, 2026; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer
- Hardness: California State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, results from Oct. 8, 2019 to Oct. 30, 2025, read Oct. 10, 2026
- Limits and goals: each contaminant’s page, with its EPA source.
- How this page is built: methodology.
PWSID CA1600507. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.
What to do next
- Read up on UraniumWhat each one does to health, where it comes from, and the certification claim that addresses it.About Uranium
- Get the utility’s own reportHardwick Water Company must send you a water quality report every year. It covers contaminants this page does not show, and has newer results than EPA’s national file for the ones here that come from it.How to read it
- Test your own tap for leadYour service line, solder and fixtures decide the lead at your faucet, not the utility’s average.Lead in your water: what to do
- Compare certified filtersWhat the filters certified for these results cost over five years, cartridges included.Compare five-year costs