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Kernvale Mutual Water Co

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
75 people
Connections
32
Water source
Groundwater bought from another system
Based in
Lake Isabella, CA
County
Kern
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

93240

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, 1 more is above the limit’s level with no violation recorded, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the legal limit. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2001 to 2025.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): California’s own results, samples taken from Nov. 18, 2021 to Aug. 21, 2024, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Arsenic, uranium and nitrate: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from April 2, 2012 to July 1, 2013. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the legal limit1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the legal limit

25ppb

Highest yearly average, 2012 to 2013

2013 average: 25 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 25 ppb, in 2012, about 2.5 times EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb. Its highest single sample was 28 ppb. In 2013, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 25 ppb, above the limit. EPA recorded violations for arsenic at this utility in 2012 and 2013.

What handles it

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

Above the limit’s level, no violation recorded1

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the limit’s level, no violation

38.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2012 to 2013

2013 average: 37.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 38.7 ppb, in 2012, above EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb. Its highest single sample was 40.2 ppb. In 2013, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 37.3 ppb, above the limit. EPA judges this limit on running averages at each sampling point, and recorded no violation for uranium at this utility from 2012 to 2019. Results like these with no violation often include water sampled before treatment or blending; the utility’s annual report says what reaches the tap.

What handles it

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

1.3ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.3 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

Below EPA’s limits2

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

4.7ppm

One sample

2013, one sample: 4.7 ppm

The highest sample, in 2013, was 4.7 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That is the only year on file, and its one sample was 4.7 ppm.

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

4.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024, one sample: 3.1 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 4.5 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, its one sample was 3.1 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 5.3 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

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

    For: Arsenic, Uranium, 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

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 2 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are California’s own from 2021 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Arsenic, uranium and nitrate come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Kernvale Mutual Water Co’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 Nov. 18, 2021 to Aug. 21, 2024; EPA’s compliance samples are from April 2, 2012 to July 1, 2013.

Testing your own tap

Kernvale Mutual Water Co’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 Kernvale Mutual Water Co serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Pace Analytical Services, LLC dba BC Laboratories, Inc.

    Bakersfield, CA · about 37 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, radioactivity

    (661) 327-4911

  • Zalco Laboratories, Inc.

    Bakersfield, CA · about 37 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts

    (661) 395-0539

  • BSK Associates - Bakersfield Analytical Laboratory

    Bakersfield, CA · about 42 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (661) 327-0671

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA1500364. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Kern County

All California utilities

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