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South Fork Heights Apartments

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
80 people
Connections
8
Water source
Groundwater influenced by surface water
Based in
Fort Smith, CO
County
Rio Grande
Owner
Private

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit. The worst: Copper, above the action level. 9 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2017 to 2024.

Haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, chromium (total), arsenic, fluoride and uranium: Colorado’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 14, 2020 to Aug. 11, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit1

Copper

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the action level

1.8ppm

90th percentile, 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.8 ppm, above EPA’s action level of 1.3 ppm.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits4

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

16.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 16.8 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2026, 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 27 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

13.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 13.8 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, 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 22.4 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

0.26ppm

Highest sample; found in 1 of 6

2025: not found

The highest sample, in 2024, was 0.26 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 0.57 ppm, in 2015.

What handles it

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

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.0 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Fluoride
  • Lead
  • 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

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Lead and Copper RuleOCCT/SOWT Treatment Installation/DemonstrationJuly 1, 2026—Unaddressed
Surface Water Treatment RuleRequired treatment for surface water or groundwater was not met.EPA: Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR)Jan. 1, 2026 to Jan. 31, 2026—Resolved
Groundwater RuleA significant problem found in a state inspection was not fixed on time.EPA: Failure To Address DeficiencyApril 27, 2025—Addressed
Groundwater RuleA significant problem found in a state inspection was not fixed on time.EPA: Failure To Address DeficiencyApril 27, 2025—Resolved
Groundwater RuleA significant problem found in a state inspection was not fixed on time.EPA: Failure To Address DeficiencyApril 27, 2025—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, 2020 to May 31, 2020—Resolved
Surface Water Treatment RuleRequired treatment for surface water or groundwater was not met.EPA: Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR)May 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020—Resolved
Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment RuleOne cloudiness reading was above the maximum allowed.EPA: Single Turbidity Exceed (Enhanced SWTR)May 1, 2020 to May 31, 20209.1 NTUResolved
Lead and Copper RuleA required study or plan for corrosion control was not done on time.EPA: OCCT/SOWT Study/RecommendationApril 1, 2018—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 128 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, chromium (total), arsenic, fluoride and uranium results here are Colorado’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. South Fork Heights Apartments’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. 14, 2020 to Aug. 11, 2026.

Testing your own tap

South Fork Heights Apartments’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 South Fork Heights Apartments 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 CO0153718. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Rio Grande County

All Colorado utilities

What to do next