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Bainbridge Water Works

What EPA’s and CDC’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
830 people
Connections
332
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Bainbridge, IN
County
Putnam
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

46105

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the health goal. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Arsenic, nitrate, haloacetic acids (HAA5) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM): Indiana’s yearly averages per water system, as CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network publishes them, 2022 to 2023, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Fluoride and chromium (total): EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Aug. 11, 2014 to Aug. 21, 2017. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

4.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 4.4 ppb, in 2023: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 5.0 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Below EPA’s limits4

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

4.7ppm

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2023

2023 average: 0.86 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 4.7 ppm, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 0.86 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 1.5 ppm, in 2017.

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

0.6ppm

Highest yearly average, 2014 to 2017

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.6 ppm, in 2017, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

5.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 5.0 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 14.7 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

6.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 6.5 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 8.5 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • 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.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

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

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 reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Lead and Copper Rule RevisionsThe required inventory of lead service lines was not completed or submitted on time.EPA: LSL InventoryOct. 17, 2024—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 10 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, nitrate, haloacetic acids (HAA5) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) results here are Indiana’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2022 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Fluoride and chromium (total) come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Bainbridge Water Works’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has newer results for those and 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; CDC’s yearly averages for Indiana cover 2022 to 2023; EPA’s compliance samples are from Aug. 11, 2014 to Aug. 21, 2017.

Testing your own tap

Bainbridge Water Works’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 Indiana certifies.

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

Indiana Department of Health laboratory: Test kits for well water: nitrate, fluoride, and arsenic, lead and copper, ordered from the lab and returned by mail. They are open to the public. Nitrate is $10 a sample plus $6.50 shipping per order, fluoride $10 plus shipping, and the arsenic, lead and copper kit $20 plus $6.50 shipping. Water Testing, Indiana Department of Health.

All 81 certified labs for Indiana

Sources

PWSID IN5267001. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Putnam County

All Indiana utilities

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