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Northwest Florida Reception Center

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
2,500 people
Connections
39
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Chipley, FL
County
Washington
Owner
State government
The ZIP code it serves

32428

The short answer

2 results are above EPA’s legal limit, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), above the legal limit. 14 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2015 to 2025.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.9 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 1, 2018. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and nitrate: Florida’s own results, samples taken from Feb. 28, 2020 to Nov. 18, 2024, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit2

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the legal limit

104ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

2024 average: 41.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 104 ppb, in 2021, above EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 159 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, its 16 samples averaged 41.3 ppb. EPA recorded violations for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility in 2021 and 2022. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 89.6 ppb, in 2017.

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

Above the legal limit

71.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

2024 average: 39.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 71.2 ppb, in 2022, above EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 145 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, its 16 samples averaged 39.3 ppb. EPA recorded violations for haloacetic acids (HAA5) at this utility in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 82.8 ppb, in 2017, and EPA recorded violations in 2018 and 2019.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

2.8ppb

90th percentile, 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 2.8 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 limits1

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.92ppm

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.92 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

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

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
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 202476.6 UG/LArchived
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2024 to June 30, 202476.6 UG/LArchived
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2024 to March 31, 202489.8 UG/LArchived
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2023 to Dec. 31, 202377.8 UG/LArchived
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 202360.3 UG/LArchived
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2023 to March 31, 202399.5 UG/LArchived
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2022 to Dec. 31, 202288.4 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2022 to March 31, 202295.6 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 202194.2 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2021 to Sept. 30, 2021104 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021101 UG/LArchived
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2019 to Dec. 31, 201962 UG/LResolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2019 to Sept. 30, 201968.5 UG/LResolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2018 to June 30, 201866.5 UG/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), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and nitrate results here are Florida’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Northwest Florida Reception Center’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 Feb. 28, 2020 to Nov. 18, 2024.

Testing your own tap

Northwest Florida Reception Center’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 Northwest Florida Reception Center serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Bay County Laboratory Services

    Panama City, FL · about 29 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (850) 872-4134

  • The Water Spigot

    Panama City, FL · about 29 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts

    (850) 871-1900

  • Analytical Services Corporation

    Niceville, FL · about 53 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (850) 678-5313

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 FL1670733. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Washington County

All Florida utilities

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