Is Fairfield, IA tap water safe?
The short answer
None of the 4 utilities serving Fairfield has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Iowa’s records.
Fairfield Water Supply, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 199 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. A health benchmark is a level EPA screens with, not a legal limit.
A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Fairfield’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.
- Open report
Fairfield Water Supply
Iowa · serves 9,821 people · about 860 in Fairfield
1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 199 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Rathbun Regional Water Assn (Rathbun)
Iowa · serves 33,000 people · under 100 in Fairfield
1 result above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 1.0 ppb, above the health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Jefferson County Rural Water District
Iowa · serves 468 people · lists Fairfield among the places it serves
Nothing in its records is above a health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Fairfield Estates Mobile Home Park
Iowa · serves 140 people · lists Fairfield among the places it serves
Nothing in its records is above a health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
Water testing near Fairfield
The 3 labs Iowa certifies closest to Fairfield, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
State Hygienic Laboratory - Coralville
Coralville, IA · about 50 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, PFAS, radioactivity
Ion Environmental Solutions
Muscatine, IA · about 54 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate
Microbac Laboratories - Centerville
Centerville, IA · about 55 miles
Certified for bacteria
State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa: Through the Grants-to-Counties program, private well owners in participating counties can have their water tested for total coliform bacteria and nitrate. Start with the county sanitarian at your county health department. No cost in a participating county. The Grants-to-Counties Program, State Hygienic Lab at the University of Iowa.
All 36 certified labs for IowaWhich ZIP codes are in Fairfield: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: Iowa DNR, laboratories certified for drinking water; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.
Near Fairfield
Towns nearby with a page of their own.
What to do next
- Read Fairfield Water Supply’s full reportEvery result with its dates, the violations, and the certification claim that handles each finding.Open the report
- About LithiumWhat it does to health, where it comes from, and the certification claim that addresses it.About Lithium
- On a private well?No utility tests a well. A certified lab test is the first step.How to test well water