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Orleans C.S.D.

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
636 people
Connections
167
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Orleans, CA
County
Humboldt
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Hard
The ZIP code it serves

95556

The short answer

1 result is above the limit’s level with no violation recorded, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Haloacetic acids (HAA5), above the limit’s level, no violation. 3 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2000 to 2025. Lead at 1.5 mg/L (2016) is left out of this report: more than 20 times the action level, it looks like µg/L entered as mg/L.

Haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and nitrate: California’s own results, samples taken from Aug. 7, 2020 to Aug. 15, 2024, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Arsenic, chromium (total) and fluoride: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Aug. 30, 2019 to Aug. 30, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the limit’s level, no violation recorded1

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the limit’s level, no violation

107ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

2024 average: 12.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 107 ppb, in 2021, above EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 12.4 ppb. EPA judges this limit on running averages at each sampling point, and recorded no violation for haloacetic acids (HAA5) at this utility since 2020. Results like these with no violation often include water sampled before treatment or blending; the utility’s annual report says what reaches the tap. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.2 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

2.6ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 2.6 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 limits1

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

63.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

2024 average: 19.5 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 63.3 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 19.5 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.5 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)
  • Fluoride
  • 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.”

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 water filters for lead, ranked

Hardness

Hard, 130 mg/L (7.6 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, in 2019.

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 at 7.6 grains per gallon, 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
Revised Total Coliform RuleE. coli was confirmed in the water system.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, E. coli (RTCR)June 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021—Resolved
Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment RuleTreatment Technique Uncovered ReservoirJan. 25, 2021—Addressed
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 3 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and nitrate results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Arsenic, chromium (total) and fluoride come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Orleans C.S.D.’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 Aug. 7, 2020 to Aug. 15, 2024; EPA’s compliance samples are from Aug. 30, 2019 to Aug. 30, 2019.

Testing your own tap

Orleans C.S.D.’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 2 labs California certifies closest to the area Orleans C.S.D. serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Microbac Laboratories, Inc. - Arcata

    Arcata, CA · about 37 miles

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

    (707) 822-4649

  • Humboldt County Public Health Laboratory

    Eureka, CA · about 46 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (707) 268-2179

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA1200729. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Nearby

All California utilities

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