Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Krotona Institute

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
30 people
Connections
24
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Ojai, CA
County
Ventura
Owner
Private
Hardness
Varies by source
The ZIP code it serves

93023

The short answer

Nothing in EPA’s and California’s records for this utility is above a health goal. That covers nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals, plus lead and copper, not everything. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What was found

Nitrate, fluoride, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), arsenic, chromium (total) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): California’s own results, samples taken from Feb. 11, 2020 to Feb. 10, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Below EPA’s limits3

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

3.3ppm

Highest sample; found in 14 of 14

2026 average: 2.6 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 3.3 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 2.6 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 3.4 ppm, in 2013.

What handles it

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

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.9ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 0.7 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.9 ppm, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.7 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.9 ppm, in 2017.

What handles it

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

4.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 4.0 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 8.0 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 14 ppb, in 2019.

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.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
  • Lead

Hardness

Hard to very hard depending on the source, 177 to 231 mg/L (10.4 to 13.5 grains per gallon), across 2 sampling points, 2020 to 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

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. 2 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Nitrate, fluoride, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), arsenic, chromium (total) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Krotona Institute’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 Feb. 11, 2020 to Feb. 10, 2026.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Fruit Growers Laboratory, Inc.

    Santa Paula, CA · about 19 miles

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

    (805) 392-2000

  • Capco Analytical Services

    Ventura, CA · about 19 miles

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

    (805) 644-1095

  • Ventura County Public Health Laboratory

    Oxnard, CA · about 23 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (805) 981-5131

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA5601401. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Ventura County

All California utilities

What to do next