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Pine Cove Water District

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
1,540 people
Connections
1,118
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Idyllwild, CA
County
Riverside
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Varies by source
The ZIP code it serves

92549

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Uranium, 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 2008 to 2026.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.8 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 2005. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Uranium, nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), chromium (total), arsenic, fluoride and haloacetic acids (HAA5): California’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 15, 2020 to Nov. 3, 2025, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal2

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

10.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

Averaged by year, the highest was 10.1 ppb, in 2022: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 16.3 ppb, in 2012.

What handles it

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

2.5ppb

90th percentile, 2024 to 2026

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 2.5 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

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

1.6ppm

Highest sample; found in 29 of 111

2025 average: 0.069 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 1.6 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its 15 samples averaged 0.069 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 1.3 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

7.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2025

2025 average: 4.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 7.5 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 8.2 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 4.3 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 7.0 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

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

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.6 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. Its highest single sample was 41 ppb. That is the only year on file.

What handles it

3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Fluoride
  • Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

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

Soft to moderately hard depending on the source, 24 to 69 mg/L (1.4 to 4 grains per gallon), across 16 sampling points, 2019 to 2022.

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

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. Uranium, nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), chromium (total), arsenic, fluoride and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Pine Cove Water 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 didn’t sample this utility; California’s results run from Jan. 15, 2020 to Nov. 3, 2025.

Testing your own tap

Pine Cove Water 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 Pine Cove Water District serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Babcock Laboratories, Inc.

    Riverside, CA · about 33 miles

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

    (951) 653-3351

  • BSK Associates - San Bernardino Analytical Laboratory

    San Bernardino, CA · about 36 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (559) 497-2888

  • Clinical Laboratory of San Bernardino, Inc.

    Grand Terrace, CA · about 38 miles

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

    (909) 825-7693

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA3310030. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Riverside County

All California utilities

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