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Bourbon Co RWD 4

What EPA’s and Kansas’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
1,161 people
Connections
488
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Bronson, KS
County
Bourbon
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Hard
The 5 ZIP codes it serves

66010, 66716, 66754, 66755, 66779

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Haloacetic acids (HAA5), above the legal limit. 5 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2004 to 2025.

Haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, chromium (total), arsenic and nitrate: Kansas’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 28, 2020 to July 6, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit1

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the legal limit

78ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 43 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 78 ppb, in 2023, above EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 180 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 43 ppb. EPA recorded violations for haloacetic acids (HAA5) at this utility in 2023 and 2024. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 62.8 ppb, in 2019, and EPA recorded a violation in 2019.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

1.6ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.6 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 limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

72.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 52.7 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 72.8 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 97 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 52.7 ppb. EPA recorded no violation for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility since 2020. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 54.8 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

0.13ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.13 ppm, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 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 yearly average of 0.25 ppm, in 2015.

What handles it

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

1.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.2 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. 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 yearly average of 1.9 ppb, in 2013.

What handles it

2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • 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.”

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

Hardness

Hard, 160 mg/L (9.4 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, 2015 to 2026.

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 9.4 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Kansas water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2024 to June 30, 20240.073 MG/LResolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2024 to March 31, 20240.079 MG/LResolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2023 to Dec. 31, 20230.078 MG/LResolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 20230.081 MG/LResolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2019 to Dec. 31, 20190.063 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 35 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, chromium (total), arsenic and nitrate results here are Kansas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Bourbon Co RWD 4’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; Kansas’s results run from Jan. 28, 2020 to July 6, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Bourbon Co RWD 4’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 Kansas certifies.

The 3 labs Kansas certifies closest to the area Bourbon Co RWD 4 serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Pace Analytical Services, Inc - Frontenac

    Frontenac, KS · about 38 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (913) 599-5665

  • Johnson County Water Quality Laboratory

    Olathe, KS · about 65 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper

    (913) 715-6950

  • Olathe Environmental Laboratory

    Olathe, KS · about 65 miles

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

    (913) 971-8310

All 47 certified labs for Kansas

Sources

PWSID KS2001101. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Bourbon County

All Kansas utilities

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