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Silver Lake Utility - Buckhorn Housing

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
60 people
Connections
18
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Fort Basinger, FL
County
Highlands
Owner
Private
The 2 ZIP codes it serves

33872, 33875

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2007 to 2024.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.6 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 1, 2007. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total) and uranium: Florida’s own results, samples taken from April 6, 2020 to July 17, 2024, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

2.6ppb

90th percentile, 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 2.6 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

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

50ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

2024: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 50 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 100 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample. EPA recorded no violation for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility since 2020. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 106 ppb, in 2018.

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

24ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

2024, one sample: 11.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 24 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 28.3 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, its one sample was 11.2 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 78.6 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.43ppm

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024 average: 0.15 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.43 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2024, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.15 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.44 ppm, in 2018.

What handles it

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.072ppm

Highest sample; found in 2 of 4

2024, one sample: 0.072 ppm

The highest sample, in 2024, was 0.072 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That was also the latest year on file, and its one sample was 0.072 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.26 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Uranium

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

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total) and uranium results here are Florida’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Silver Lake Utility - Buckhorn Housing’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 April 6, 2020 to July 17, 2024.

Testing your own tap

Silver Lake Utility - Buckhorn Housing’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 Silver Lake Utility - Buckhorn Housing serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Florida-Spectrum Environmental Services-Big Lake Laboratory

    Okeechobee, FL · about 37 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (863) 763-3336

  • Benchmark Mid Florida Laboratory

    Winter Haven, FL · about 40 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (863) 656-2020

  • Benchmark EA South

    North Port, FL · about 45 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (941) 625-3137

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 FL5284101. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Highlands County

All Florida utilities

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