Backwater Heights
What EPA’s and Florida’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
- 267 people
- Connections
- 107
- Water source
- Groundwater
- Based in
- Dunnellon, FL
- County
- Citrus
- Owner
- Private
The ZIP code it serves
The short answer
Nothing in EPA’s and Florida’s records for this utility is above a health goal. That covers nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals, plus lead and copper, not everything. No health-based violations on file since 2016.
What was found
Nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride and uranium: Florida’s own results, samples taken from Dec. 23, 2020 to July 29, 2024, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.
Below EPA’s limits3
Nitrate
Comes from the source
1.9ppm
Highest sample; found in 8 of 8
2024 average: 1.7 ppm
The highest sample, in 2024, was 1.9 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That was also the latest year on file, and its two samples averaged 1.7 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 1.6 ppm, in 2019.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
- NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)
Forms or is added in treatment
6.4ppb
Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024
2024 average: 1.1 ppb
Averaged by year, the highest was 6.4 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 8.8 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 1.1 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 2.1 ppb, in 2012.
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
1.7ppb
Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024
2024: not found
Averaged by year, the highest was 1.7 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 2.4 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its two samples. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.5 ppb, in 2018.
What handles it
No certification claim covers this compound yet.
5 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
- Arsenic
- Chromium (total)
- Fluoride
- Lead
- Uranium
Violations since 2016
No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 7 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.
What this report can’t tell you
Everything else. Nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride and uranium results here are Florida’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Backwater Heights’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; Florida’s results run from Dec. 23, 2020 to July 29, 2024.
Testing your own tap
The 3 labs Florida certifies closest to the area Backwater Heights serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Marion County Water Test Lab., LLC
Ocala, FL · about 27 miles
Certified for bacteria
Aqua Pure Water & Sewage Service, LLC
Ocala, FL · about 30 miles
Certified for bacteria
Advanced Environmental Laboratories, Inc. - Gainesville
Gainesville, FL · about 42 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics
Florida Department of Health Bureau of Public Health Laboratories: Coliform and E. coli testing for private wells at the Jacksonville and Miami labs. Collection kits come from your county health department, and the sample has to reach the lab on ice the same day it is collected. $40 for private testing through the state lab. Well Water Testing, Florida Department of Health.
All 212 certified labs for FloridaSources
- EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data, file of Oct. 15, 2026
- EPA SDWA bulk download (SDWIS federal data), 2026 Q3
- Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Drinking Water Program, results from Jan. 2, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2024, read Oct. 8, 2026
- EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, file of Feb. 5, 2024
- Certified labs: Florida Department of Health Environmental Laboratory Certification Program, drinking water labs, as listed in TNI LAMS, read Oct. 11, 2026; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer
- Limits and goals: each contaminant’s page, with its EPA source.
- How this page is built: methodology.
PWSID FL6090099. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.
What to do next
- Nothing here is above a health goalIn EPA’s and Florida’s records for this utility. They don’t cover everything, which is why the next step matters.Every contaminant TapBuff tracks
- Get the utility’s own reportBackwater Heights must send you a water quality report every year. It covers contaminants this page does not show.How to read it
- Test your own tap for leadYour service line, solder and fixtures decide the lead at your faucet, not the utility’s average.Lead in your water: what to do
- Decide if you want a filter at allA filter for taste or chlorine is a preference, not a need. The standards say what each kind can do.NSF/ANSI standards, decoded