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Town of Fort Jones

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
673 people
Connections
398
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Fort Jones, CA
County
Siskiyou
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

96032

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit. The worst: Lead, above the action level. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2005 to 2026.

Nitrate: California’s own results, samples taken from May 19, 2020 to March 26, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Fluoride, arsenic and chromium (total): EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from June 19, 2017 to Nov. 5, 2018. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the legal limit1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the action level

27ppb

90th percentile, 2024 to 2026

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 27 ppb, above EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027, and this result is at or above that. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits2

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.5ppm

Highest sample; found in 6 of 6

2026, one sample: 2.3 ppm

The highest sample, in 2025, was 2.5 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 2.3 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 4.3 ppm, in 2015.

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

0.13ppm

Highest yearly average, 2017 to 2018

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.13 ppm, in 2018, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

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

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

Very hard, 212 mg/L (12.4 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, in 2026.

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 12.4 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 3 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Nitrate results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Fluoride, arsenic and chromium (total) come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Town of Fort Jones’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 May 19, 2020 to March 26, 2026; EPA’s compliance samples are from June 19, 2017 to Nov. 5, 2018.

Testing your own tap

Town of Fort Jones’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 lab California certifies closest to the area Town of Fort Jones serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Spring Street Analytical

    Klamath Falls, OR · about 75 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (541) 882-6286

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA4710003. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Siskiyou County

All California utilities

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