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Ventura Water Works

What EPA’s and Iowa’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
717 people
Connections
417
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Ventura, IA
County
Cerro Gordo
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Very hard
The 2 ZIP codes it serves

50428, 50482

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

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.8 ppm, for the period ending June 30, 1994. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), chromium (total) and nitrate: Iowa’s own results, samples taken from July 14, 2020 to Aug. 5, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

2.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2025

2025 average: 1.0 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.0 ppb, in 2023: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 3.0 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 1.0 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.0 ppb, in 2013.

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 limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

37ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 37 ppb, in 2026, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 18 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

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

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.72ppm

Highest yearly average, 2022

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.72 ppm, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.82 ppm, in 2013.

What handles it

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

10ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 10 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 10 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 10 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 11 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Chromium (total)
  • Lead
  • Nitrate

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

Hardness

Very hard, 340 mg/L (19.9 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, in 2018.

Hardness is calcium and magnesium. EPA sets no limit for it: it shows up as scale on fixtures and in water heaters, and as soap that won’t lather. USGS calls water above 60 mg/L moderately hard, above 120 hard and above 180 very hard.

Softeners compared at 19.9 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Iowa water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There is 1 monitoring or reporting violation: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), chromium (total) and nitrate results here are Iowa’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Ventura Water Works’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; Iowa’s results run from July 14, 2020 to Aug. 5, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Ventura 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 Iowa certifies.

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

  • AgSource

    Ellsworth, IA · about 55 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (515) 297-8103

  • Eurofins - Cedar Falls

    Cedar Falls, IA · about 64 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (319) 277-2401

  • Microbac Laboratories - Waterloo

    Waterloo, IA · about 74 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (319) 235-4440

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 Iowa

Sources

PWSID IA1785032. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Cerro Gordo County

All Iowa utilities

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