Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

City of Brownell

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
24 people
Connections
28
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Brownell, KS
County
Ness
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

67521

The short answer

2 results are 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 2007 to 2024.

Arsenic, nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride and chromium (total): Kansas’s own results, samples taken from Feb. 2, 2020 to Aug. 3, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal2

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

6.7ppb

90th percentile, 2022 to 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 6.7 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

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

3.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.6 ppb, in 2021: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. In 2024, 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 3.9 ppb, in 2012.

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 limits5

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

7.9ppm

Highest sample; found in 8 of 8

2026, one sample: 7.9 ppm

The highest sample, in 2026, was 7.9 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That was also the latest year on file, and its one sample was 7.9 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 8.2 ppm, in 2015.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

26ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 4.1 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 26 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 4.1 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 58 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

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

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

12ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 6.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 12 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 6.4 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 19 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.35ppm

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.35 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.36 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

3.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.2 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. In 2024, 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 2.6 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

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

    Claims: Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Lead, Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Lead, Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

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

The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Hardness

Very hard, 440 mg/L (25.7 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, 2015 to 2024.

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

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. Arsenic, nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride and chromium (total) results here are Kansas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. City of Brownell’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 Feb. 2, 2020 to Aug. 3, 2026.

Testing your own tap

City of Brownell’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 lab Kansas certifies closest to the area City of Brownell serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Servi-Tech, Inc

    Dodge City, KS · about 65 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (620) 227-7123

All 47 certified labs for Kansas

Sources

PWSID KS2013504. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Ness County

All Kansas utilities

What to do next