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Pitkin Mesa Pipeline Co

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
295 people
Connections
201
Water source
Groundwater influenced by surface water
Based in
Paonia, CO
County
Delta
Owner
Private

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 5 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2010 to 2025.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total) and fluoride: Colorado’s own results, samples taken from March 9, 2020 to Aug. 17, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Uranium: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Feb. 6, 2018 to Feb. 6, 2018. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

2.5ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 2.5 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

Below EPA’s limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

12.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 8.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 12.7 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 8.4 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 14.5 ppb, in 2019.

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

7.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 3.9 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 7.1 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 3.9 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 10.4 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.4ppm

Highest sample; found in 7 of 7

2026, one sample: 0.3 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 0.4 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.3 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.4 ppm, in 2019.

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
  • 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.”

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

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment RuleToo many readings in a month showed cloudiness above the filtration standard.EPA: Monthly Turbidity Exceed (Enhanced SWTR)May 1, 2022 to May 31, 2022—Resolved
Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment RuleToo many readings in a month showed cloudiness above the filtration standard.EPA: Monthly Turbidity Exceed (Enhanced SWTR)April 1, 2022 to April 30, 2022—Resolved
Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment RuleToo many readings in a month showed cloudiness above the filtration standard.EPA: Monthly Turbidity Exceed (Enhanced SWTR)May 1, 2018 to May 31, 2018—Resolved
Groundwater RuleA significant problem found in a state inspection was not fixed on time.EPA: Failure To Address DeficiencyNov. 16, 2016—Resolved
Surface Water Treatment RuleWater drawn from a river, lake or reservoir was not filtered as required.EPA: Failure to Filter (SWTR)Oct. 1, 2016—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 3 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total) and fluoride results here are Colorado’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Uranium comes from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Pitkin Mesa Pipeline Co’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; Colorado’s results run from March 9, 2020 to Aug. 17, 2026; EPA’s compliance samples are from Feb. 6, 2018 to Feb. 6, 2018.

Testing your own tap

Pitkin Mesa Pipeline Co’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 Pitkin Mesa Pipeline Co 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 CO0115610. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Delta County

All Colorado utilities

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