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NPS - Death Valley, Stovepipe Wells

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
25 people
Connections
14
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Death Valley, CA
County
Inyo
Owner
Federal government
The ZIP code it serves

92328

The short answer

3 results are above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2010 to 2025.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.5 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 2000. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Arsenic, uranium, fluoride, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), chromium (total) and nitrate: California’s own results, samples taken from Nov. 18, 2020 to Feb. 19, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal3

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

3.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023, one sample: 2.9 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.7 ppb, in 2020: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 3.7 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, its one sample was 2.9 ppb.

What handles it

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

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

4.1ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 4.1 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

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

5.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2026

2026, one sample: 4.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 5.4 ppb, in 2021: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 6.9 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 4.3 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 4.8 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits3

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

1.7ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2021

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.7 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.7 ppm, in 2015.

What handles it

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

6.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 6.9 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 7.6 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its three samples. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 30.1 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

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

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

1.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.2 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 2.4 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its two samples. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 10.6 ppb, in 2016.

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: 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, Lead Reduction, Uranium

    For: Arsenic, Lead, Uranium

    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 4 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, uranium, fluoride, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), 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. NPS - Death Valley, Stovepipe Wells’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. 18, 2020 to Feb. 19, 2026.

Testing your own tap

NPS - Death Valley, Stovepipe Wells’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.

No lab California certifies is within 75 miles of the area NPS - Death Valley, Stovepipe Wells serves on the state’s list. Some take samples by mail; the state’s page lists them all.

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA1410502. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Inyo County

All California utilities

What to do next