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City of Burr Oak

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
142 people
Connections
114
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Burr Oak, KS
County
Jewell
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

66936

The short answer

2 results are above EPA’s legal limit, and 2 more are above the health goal. The worst: Copper, above the action level. 6 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2020.

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

Above the legal limit2

Copper

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the action level

1.4ppm

90th percentile, 2018 to 2020

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.4 ppm, above EPA’s action level of 1.3 ppm.

What handles it

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the legal limit

29.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 27.8 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 29.8 ppb, in 2021: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 34 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its four samples averaged 27.8 ppb. EPA judges this limit at each sampling point, and recorded a violation for uranium at this utility in 2021. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 31.6 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

Above the health goal2

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

7.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 5.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 7.0 ppb, in 2023: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 5.4 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 7.3 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

4.1ppb

90th percentile, 2021 to 2023

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 4.1 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 limits5

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

7.8ppm

Highest sample; found in 10 of 10

2026 average: 5.8 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 7.8 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 5.8 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 8.0 ppm, in 2019.

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

40ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 40 ppb, in 2025, 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 66 ppb, in 2012.

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

11ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025, one sample: 2.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 11 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 2.4 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 17 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.34ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 0.3 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.34 ppm, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.3 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.26 ppm, in 2014.

What handles it

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

3.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.6 ppb, in 2020, 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 3.1 ppb, in 2017.

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

    For: Copper, Arsenic, Lead

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

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

    For: Copper, Uranium, Arsenic, Lead

    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 reverse osmosis systems, ranked

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Hardness

Very hard, 590 mg/L (34.5 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, 2017 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 34.5 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Kansas water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Combined UraniumThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2021 to Sept. 30, 202131 UG/LResolved
SeleniumThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 20200.06 MG/LResolved
SeleniumThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2019 to Sept. 30, 20190.06 MG/LResolved
SeleniumThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2019 to June 30, 20190.06 MG/LResolved
SeleniumThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2018 to March 31, 20180.06 MG/LResolved
SeleniumThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2017 to Dec. 31, 20170.07 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 7 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Uranium, 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 Burr Oak’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. 6, 2020 to April 6, 2026.

Testing your own tap

City of Burr Oak’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 Burr Oak serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • LandIntel Solutions, LLC

    Scandia, KS · about 31 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (785) 335-2054

All 47 certified labs for Kansas

Sources

PWSID KS2008906. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Jewell County

All Kansas utilities

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