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Van Buren Municipal Utilities

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
864 people
Connections
381
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Van Buren, IN
County
Grant
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

46991

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit. The worst: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), above the legal limit. 5 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.5 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 2015. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate and arsenic: 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 Nov. 12, 2014 to April 27, 2017. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the legal limit1

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the legal limit

65.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 65.5 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. EPA judges this limit at each sampling point, and recorded violations for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility in 2025 and 2026. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 77.2 ppb, in 2018, and EPA recorded a violation in 2018.

What handles it

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

Below EPA’s limits4

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

14.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 14.1 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 30.5 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.9ppm

Highest yearly average, 2014 to 2017

2017, one sample: 0.68 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.9 ppm, in 2014, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2017, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.68 ppm.

What handles it

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.0ppm

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2023

2023 average: 1.7 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.0 ppm, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 1.7 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 2.0 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

1.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2014 to 2017

2017: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.3 ppb, in 2014, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. In 2017, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample.

What handles it

2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • 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: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

    Other certifiers’ wording: VOC Reduction

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claim: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

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

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2026 to June 30, 202691.1 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2026 to March 31, 2026106 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2025 to Dec. 31, 2025100 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2018 to Dec. 31, 201881.5 UG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2018 to June 30, 201880.3 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), nitrate and arsenic 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. Van Buren Municipal Utilities’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 Nov. 12, 2014 to April 27, 2017.

Testing your own tap

Van Buren Municipal Utilities’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 Van Buren Municipal Utilities 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 IN5227023. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Grant County

All Indiana utilities

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