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Town of Poncha Springs

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
2,118 people
Connections
804
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Poncha Springs, CO
County
Chaffee
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

81242

The short answer

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

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 1994 to 2024.

Uranium, fluoride, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, chromium (total), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and arsenic: Colorado’s own results, samples taken from Feb. 10, 2020 to Sept. 9, 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

1.5ppm

90th percentile, 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.5 ppm, above EPA’s action level of 1.3 ppm.

What handles it

Above the health goal1

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

14ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025 average: 8.1 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 14 ppb, in 2021: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 15 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its four samples averaged 8.1 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 17 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits5

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.68ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.68 ppm, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 1.3 ppm. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.77 ppm, in 2013.

What handles it

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

8.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 3.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 8.2 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 3.4 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 19.9 ppb, in 2014.

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

0.6ppm

Highest sample; found in 31 of 33

2026 average: 0.28 ppm

The highest sample, in 2022, was 0.6 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its four samples averaged 0.28 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 1.7 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

4.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 4.8 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. Its highest single sample was 5.0 ppb. That was also the latest 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

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

1.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.5 ppb, in 2024, 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 4.1 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

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

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 RuleWater chemistry used to keep pipes from corroding was outside the required range.EPA: WQP Entry Point/Tap Treatment Technique Non-ComplianceJan. 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 2 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Uranium, fluoride, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, chromium (total), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and arsenic results here are Colorado’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Town of Poncha Springs’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 Feb. 10, 2020 to Sept. 9, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Town of Poncha Springs’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 Town of Poncha Springs serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • El Paso County Health Department

    Colorado Springs, CO · about 72 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

  • Sangre De Cristo Laboratory

    Alamosa, CO · about 72 miles

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

All 54 certified labs for Colorado

Sources

PWSID CO0108650. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Chaffee County

All Colorado utilities

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