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Searles Valley Minerals Operations Inc

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
1,818 people
Connections
760
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Trona, CA
County
San Bernardino
Owner
Private
Hardness
Varies by source
The ZIP code it serves

93562

The short answer

2 results are 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

Arsenic, uranium, nitrate, fluoride, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and chromium (total): California’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 7, 2020 to June 9, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal2

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

4.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 3.9 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 4.2 ppb, in 2024: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 40 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its 50 samples averaged 3.9 ppb. EPA recorded no violation for arsenic at this utility since 2020. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 19.2 ppb, in 2012, and EPA recorded violations in 2012 and 2013.

What handles it

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

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

3.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.5 ppb, in 2023: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 7.0 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 10.1 ppb, in 2012.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits4

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

3.3ppm

Highest sample; found in 26 of 33

2025 average: 1.5 ppm

The highest sample, in 2022, was 3.3 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its five samples averaged 1.5 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 3.7 ppm, in 2016.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.95ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 0.84 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.95 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 1.4 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its 14 samples averaged 0.84 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.3 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

16.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025, one sample: 1.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 16.4 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 19.9 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 1.3 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 25 ppb, in 2015.

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

4.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 4.8 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 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 4.3 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Chromium (total)
  • Lead

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

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

    For: Arsenic, Uranium

    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

Soft to very hard depending on the source, 6.3 to 355 mg/L (0.4 to 20.8 grains per gallon), across 5 sampling points, 2020 to 2023.

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.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, uranium, nitrate, fluoride, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and chromium (total) results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Searles Valley Minerals Operations Inc’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. 7, 2020 to June 9, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Searles Valley Minerals Operations Inc’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.

No lab California certifies is within 75 miles of the area Searles Valley Minerals Operations Inc serves on the state’s list. Some take samples by mail; the state’s page lists them all.

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA3610854. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in San Bernardino County

All California utilities

What to do next