Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Baca Grande WSD

What EPA’s and Colorado’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
2,006 people
Connections
848
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Crestone, CO
County
Saguache
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

81131

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 2020 to 2025.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.6 ppm, for the period ending June 30, 2010. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Uranium, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride and haloacetic acids (HAA5): Colorado’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 28, 2020 to May 26, 2026, 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

7.6ppb

90th percentile, 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 7.6 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

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.4 ppb, in 2026: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. That is the only year on file.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits2

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

3.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025, one sample: 2.6 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.2 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 2.6 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 3.8 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

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

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.4ppm

Highest sample; found in 2 of 7

2026, one sample: 0.4 ppm

The highest sample, in 2026, was 0.4 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That was also the latest year on file, and its one sample was 0.4 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.4 ppm, in 2016.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • 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

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 15 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Uranium, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are Colorado’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Baca Grande WSD’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; Colorado’s results run from Jan. 28, 2020 to May 26, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Baca Grande WSD’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 Colorado certifies.

The 2 labs Colorado certifies closest to the area Baca Grande WSD serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Sangre De Cristo Laboratory

    Alamosa, CO · about 28 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics

  • Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment

    Pueblo, CO · about 64 miles

    Certified for bacteria

All 54 certified labs for Colorado

Sources

PWSID CO0155200. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Saguache County

All Colorado utilities

What to do next