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Wapello Municipal 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
1,977 people
Connections
940
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Wapello, IA
County
Louisa
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

52653

The short answer

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

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2003 to 2024.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, arsenic and chromium (total): Iowa’s own results, samples taken from May 13, 2020 to July 15, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

2.4ppb

90th percentile, 2022 to 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 2.4 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits4

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

40ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 40 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 45 ppb, in 2019.

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

0.86ppm

Highest yearly average, 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.86 ppm, in 2023, 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 0.75 ppm, in 2014.

What handles it

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

12ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 12 ppb, in 2026, 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 16 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.3ppm

Highest sample; found in 1 of 7

2026: not found

The highest sample, in 2020, was 0.3 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.1 ppm, in 2017.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)

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.”

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. 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 water filters for lead, ranked

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 2 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, arsenic and chromium (total) results here are Iowa’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Wapello Municipal 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 May 13, 2020 to July 15, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Wapello Municipal 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 Wapello Municipal Water Works serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Ion Environmental Solutions

    Muscatine, IA · about 20 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (563) 299-2214

  • Quad Cities Metallurgical Laboratory

    Davenport, IA · about 40 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (563) 386-7827

  • State Hygienic Laboratory - Coralville

    Coralville, IA · about 43 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, PFAS, radioactivity

    (319) 335-4500

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 IA5879063. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Louisa County

All Iowa utilities

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