Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Town of Nucla

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
875 people
Connections
650
Water source
Surface water bought from another system
Based in
Nucla, CO
County
Montrose
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

81424

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 2 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2013 to 2025.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.4 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 1996. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): Colorado’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 7, 2020 to July 8, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

1.1ppb

90th percentile, 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.1 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 limits2

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

62.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 55.1 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 62.3 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 99 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 55.1 ppb. EPA recorded no violation for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility since 2020. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 77 ppb, in 2013, and EPA recorded a violation in 2016.

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

26.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 23.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 26.1 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 35.5 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 23.4 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 32.4 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

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
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2016 to Dec. 31, 20160.089 MG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2016 to Sept. 30, 20160.099 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 20 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are Colorado’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Town of Nucla’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. 7, 2020 to July 8, 2026.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Mesa County Public Health Regional Laboratory

    Grand Junction, CO · about 53 miles

    Certified for bacteria

All 54 certified labs for Colorado

Sources

PWSID CO0143559. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Montrose County

All Colorado utilities

What to do next