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Olivehurst Public Utility District

What EPA’s and California’s records show in this utility’s water: PFAS and lithium; nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
16,595 people
Connections
4,483
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Olivehurst, CA
County
Yuba
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Varies by source
The ZIP code it serves

95961

The short answer

1 result is 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

PFAS and lithium: EPA UCMR 5, samples taken from Feb. 19, 2025 to Aug. 4, 2025.

Arsenic, nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5) and chromium (total): California’s own results, samples taken from Feb. 19, 2020 to June 16, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

PFAS: None of the six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 drinking water rule was found in this utility’s samples. None of the other 23 PFAS tested for was found either.

EPA’s 2024 PFAS rule, compound by compound

PFASEPA’s limitResult
PFOA4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 6 samples, below 4 ppt
PFOS4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 6 samples, below 4 ppt
PFHxS10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 6 samples, below 3 ppt
PFNA10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 6 samples, below 4 ppt
HFPO-DA (GenX)10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 6 samples, below 5 ppt
PFBSIndex onlyNot foundNot found in any of 6 samples, below 3 ppt
Hazard IndexPFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS together1Doesn’t applyDoesn’t apply: no sampling location found two or more of the four
Results from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling. “Below” is the lab’s reporting level: a result under it reads as not found, which is not the same as zero. The limits are EPA’s 2024 rule, with compliance due from 2029; EPA has since proposed changes to some of them, explained on each compound’s page. PFBS has no limit of its own and counts only toward the Hazard Index, which adds up the four, each against EPA’s health-based level, from each sampling location’s average, as EPA’s UCMR 5 summary does. It counts only where two or more of the four were found, and is above the limit from 1.5.

Above the health goal1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

3.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

2024: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.3 ppb, in 2020: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 6.5 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its four samples. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 2.5 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

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

Below EPA’s limits4

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

3.5ppm

Highest sample; found in 5 of 36

2026: not found

The highest sample, in 2020, was 3.5 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. 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 sample of 3.6 ppm, in 2017.

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

10.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 2.6 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 10.3 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 12.8 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 2.6 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 4.5 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

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

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.13ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.13 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.14 ppm. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.36 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

1.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.3 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 3.0 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 30.4 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

California utilities above EPA’s PFAS limits
32 compounds tested and not foundIncluding all six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 rule. Below the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.

From routine monitoring

  • Chromium (total)
  • Lead

PFAS and lithium, from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling

  • 11Cl-PF3OUdS
  • 4:2 FTS
  • 6:2 FTS
  • 8:2 FTS
  • 9Cl-PF3ONS
  • ADONA
  • HFPO-DA (GenX)
  • Lithium
  • NEtFOSAA
  • NFDHA
  • NMeFOSAA
  • PFBA
  • PFBS
  • PFDA
  • PFDoA
  • PFEESA
  • PFHpA
  • PFHpS
  • PFHxA
  • PFHxS
  • PFMBA
  • PFMPA
  • PFNA
  • PFOA
  • PFOS
  • PFPeA
  • PFPeS
  • PFTA
  • PFTrDA
  • PFUnA

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

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

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

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

Hardness

Moderately hard to very hard depending on the source, 89 to 238 mg/L (5.2 to 13.9 grains per gallon), across 6 sampling points, 2020 to 2024.

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

Disinfectant

Olivehurst Public Utility District reported another disinfectant but neither chlorine nor chloramine, in its 2025 sampling for EPA.

Most utilities add chlorine or chloramine, CDC says. This is what the utility reported for that sampling. Its annual water quality report says what it uses now.

Chlorine vs. chloramine

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There is 1 monitoring or reporting violation: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5) and chromium (total) results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Olivehurst Public Utility District’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 samples are from Feb. 19, 2025 to Aug. 4, 2025; California’s results run from Feb. 19, 2020 to June 16, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Olivehurst Public Utility District’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 Olivehurst Public Utility District 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 31 miles

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

    (530) 273-7284

  • Eurofins Sacramento Service Center

    West Sacramento, CA · about 31 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (626) 386-1221

  • Eurofins Sacramento

    West Sacramento, CA · about 31 miles

    Certified for minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, PFAS

    (916) 373-5600

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA5810003. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Yuba County

All California utilities

What to do next