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Tres Valles West

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
68 people
Connections
30
Water source
Groundwater influenced by surface water
Based in
Trinidad, CO
County
Huerfano
Owner
Private

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Uranium, above the health goal. 3 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Uranium, nitrate, fluoride, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic and chromium (total): Colorado’s own results, samples taken from Sept. 13, 2020 to Sept. 9, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.15ppb

Highest yearly average, 2024 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.15 ppb, in 2025: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 0.6 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its three samples.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits4

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.2ppm

Highest sample; found in 7 of 7

2026, one sample: 0.9 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 2.2 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.9 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 1.4 ppm, in 2018.

What handles it

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

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.82ppm

Highest yearly average, 2024 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.82 ppm, in 2026, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.92 ppm. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

13.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2025 to 2026

2026, one sample: 4.6 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 13.4 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 4.6 ppb.

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

4.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2025 to 2026

2026, one sample: 2.7 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 4.6 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 2.7 ppb.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • 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?

These come with the water itself, so a whole-house system certified for the same claims treats every tap and shower. A filter at the tap treats drinking water for much less. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

None of the filters TapBuff has checked so far carry these claims. Search the certifier listings for the claim above.

Compare five-year costs

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Surface Water Treatment RuleRequired treatment for surface water or groundwater was not met.EPA: Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR)May 1, 2024 to May 31, 2024—Resolved
Groundwater RuleA significant problem found in a state inspection was not fixed on time.EPA: Failure To Address DeficiencyAug. 11, 2017—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, 2016 to April 30, 2016—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Uranium, nitrate, fluoride, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic and chromium (total) results here are Colorado’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Tres Valles West’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 Sept. 13, 2020 to Sept. 9, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Tres Valles West’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 Tres Valles West 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 CO0128726. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Huerfano County

All Colorado utilities

What to do next