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River Retreat Mutual Water Company

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
64 people
Connections
24
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Three Rivers, CA
County
Tulare
Owner
Private
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

93271

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Lead, 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 2011 to 2022.

Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, chromium (total), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate and uranium: California’s own results, samples taken from Sept. 9, 2020 to Sept. 15, 2025, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal2

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

8.9ppb

90th percentile, 2020 to 2022

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 8.9 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

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

3.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.0 ppb, in 2021: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. In 2024, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample.

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 limits2

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

26ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 26 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2025, 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 8.5 ppb, in 2018.

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

0.6ppm

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.6 ppm, in 2024, 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 0.6 ppm, in 2018.

What handles it

4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Chromium (total)
  • Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
  • Nitrate
  • Uranium

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: Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Lead, Arsenic

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Lead, Arsenic

    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 water filters for lead, ranked

The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Hardness

Very hard, 282 mg/L (16.5 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, 2021 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 at 16.5 grains per gallon, 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 6 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, chromium (total), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate and uranium results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. River Retreat Mutual Water Company’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 Sept. 9, 2020 to Sept. 15, 2025.

Testing your own tap

River Retreat Mutual Water Company’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 River Retreat Mutual Water Company serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Fruit Growers Laboratory, Inc.

    Visalia, CA · about 34 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (559) 734-9473

  • Sierra Dairy Laboratory

    Tulare, CA · about 35 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (559) 686-2070

  • Inyo County Water Lab

    Independence, CA · about 41 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (760) 878-8476

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA5400556. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Tulare County

All California utilities

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