Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Last Dollar PUD

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
96 people
Connections
32
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Telluride, CO
County
San Miguel
Owner
Private

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, and 2 more are above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the legal limit. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2007 to 2025.

Arsenic, uranium, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, nitrate, chromium (total) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): Colorado’s own results, samples taken from March 11, 2020 to Aug. 13, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the legal limit

5.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025, one sample: 5.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 5.9 ppb, in 2021: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 7.8 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 5.2 ppb. EPA judges this limit at each sampling point, and recorded a violation for arsenic at this utility in 2020. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 13.4 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

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

Above the health goal2

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

11.9ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 11.9 ppb, below 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

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.9 ppb, in 2025: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 2.0 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

4.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 4.3 ppb, in 2026, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 4.7 ppb, in 2015.

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

0.21ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025, one sample: 0.18 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.21 ppm, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.18 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.21 ppm, in 2016.

What handles it

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.081ppm

Highest sample; found in 2 of 6

2025: not found

The highest sample, in 2020, was 0.081 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. 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 sample of 0.097 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

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

  • NSF/ANSI 53

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

    For: Arsenic, Lead

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

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

    For: Arsenic, Lead, Uranium

    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 reverse osmosis systems, ranked

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
ArsenicThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2020 to March 31, 20200.012 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 5 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, uranium, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, nitrate, chromium (total) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are Colorado’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Last Dollar PUD’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 March 11, 2020 to Aug. 13, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Last Dollar PUD’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.

No lab Colorado certifies is within 75 miles of the area Last Dollar PUD serves on the state’s list. Some take samples by mail; the state’s page lists them all.

All 54 certified labs for Colorado

Sources

PWSID CO0157300. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in San Miguel County

All Colorado utilities

What to do next