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Oaktown 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
832 people
Connections
329
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Oaktown, IN
County
Knox
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

47561

The short answer

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

What handles it

What was found

Arsenic, haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate 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, chromium (total) and uranium: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Sept. 23, 2014 to Sept. 14, 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

2.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.1 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 2.0 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

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

26ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2023

2023 average: 1.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 26 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 1.3 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 6.2 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

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

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

1.4ppm

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2023

2023 average: 1.1 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.4 ppm, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 1.1 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 2.1 ppm, in 2016.

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

Below EPA’s limits

6.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2023

2023 average: 6.0 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 6.5 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 6.0 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 18.6 ppb, in 2012.

What handles it

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

  • 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

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Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 11 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate 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, chromium (total) and uranium come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Oaktown 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 Sept. 23, 2014 to Sept. 14, 2017.

Testing your own tap

Oaktown 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 Oaktown 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 IN5242009. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Knox County

All Indiana utilities

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