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Big Bend Water Authority

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
2,700 people
Connections
1,800
Water source
Groundwater influenced by surface water
Based in
Steinhatchee, FL
County
Taylor
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

32359

The short answer

1 result is above the limit’s level with no violation recorded, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), above the limit’s level, no violation. 2 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2010 to 2025.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, nitrate, chromium (total) and arsenic: Florida’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 2, 2020 to Oct. 24, 2024, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the limit’s level, no violation recorded1

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the limit’s level, no violation

83.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

2024 average: 68.9 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 83.7 ppb, in 2021, above EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 94.2 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, its eight samples averaged 68.9 ppb. EPA judges this limit on running averages at each sampling point, and recorded no violation for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility since 2020. Results like these with no violation often include water sampled before treatment or blending; the utility’s annual report says what reaches the tap. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 96.8 ppb, in 2015, and EPA recorded violations in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

0.7ppb

90th percentile, 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 0.7 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 limits4

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

29.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

2024 average: 23.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 29.3 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 50 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, its eight samples averaged 23.3 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 61.3 ppb, in 2013, and EPA recorded violations in 2014 and 2015.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.39ppm

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.39 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.47 ppm, in 2015.

What handles it

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.34ppm

Highest sample; found in 4 of 6

2024 average: 0.3 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 0.34 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2024, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.3 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.26 ppm, in 2018.

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

1.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024, one sample: 1.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.2 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, its one sample was 1.2 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.5 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

One compound tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic

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.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claims: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: VOC Reduction

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), 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, AverageJuly 1, 2019 to Sept. 30, 201982 UG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2016 to June 30, 201686.8 UG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 5 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, nitrate, chromium (total) and arsenic results here are Florida’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Big Bend Water Authority’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 Jan. 2, 2020 to Oct. 24, 2024.

Testing your own tap

Big Bend Water Authority’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 Florida certifies.

The 3 labs Florida certifies closest to the area Big Bend Water Authority serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Eurofins Madison

    Madison, FL · about 55 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (850) 973-6878

  • Advanced Environmental Laboratories, Inc. - Gainesville

    Gainesville, FL · about 59 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (352) 377-2349

  • FL Dept. of Health - Columbia County Health Department

    Lake City, FL · about 62 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (386) 758-1066

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 Florida

Sources

PWSID FL2621102. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Nearby

All Florida utilities

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