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Palmer Creek CSD

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
320 people
Connections
132
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Fortuna, CA
County
Humboldt
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

95540

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2009 to 2028.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.4 ppm, for the period ending June 30, 2017. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and nitrate: California’s own results, samples taken from June 11, 2020 to June 17, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

5.1ppb

90th percentile, 2026 to 2028

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 5.1 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

Below EPA’s limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

73ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 36 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 73 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 36 ppb.

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

21ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 21 ppb, in 2026, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.18ppm

Highest yearly average, 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.18 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.15 ppm, in 2015.

What handles it

3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • 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.”

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

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. 8 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and nitrate results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Palmer Creek CSD’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 June 11, 2020 to June 17, 2026.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Humboldt County Public Health Laboratory

    Eureka, CA · about 15 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (707) 268-2179

  • Microbac Laboratories, Inc. - Arcata

    Arcata, CA · about 23 miles

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

    (707) 822-4649

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA1206004. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Humboldt County

All California utilities

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