City of Cedar Vale
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
- 475 people
- Connections
- 290
- Water source
- Surface water bought from another system
- Based in
- Cedar Vale, KS
- County
- Chautauqua
- Owner
- Local government
The ZIP code it serves
The short answer
1 result is above EPA’s legal limit. The worst: Haloacetic acids (HAA5), above the legal limit. 5 health-based violations since 2016.
What was found
Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.5 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 1993. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.
Haloacetic acids (HAA5) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM): Kansas’s own results, samples taken from March 10, 2020 to Aug. 25, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.
Above the legal limit1
Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
Forms or is added in treatment
69.5ppb
Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026
2026 average: 45 ppb
Averaged by year, the highest was 69.5 ppb, in 2024, above EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 130 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 45 ppb. EPA recorded violations for haloacetic acids (HAA5) at this utility in 2024 and 2025. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 54.3 ppb, in 2019.
What handles it
No certification claim covers this compound yet.
Below EPA’s limits1
Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)
Forms or is added in treatment
56.5ppb
Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026
2026 average: 48 ppb
Averaged by year, the highest was 56.5 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 74 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 48 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 59.4 ppb, in 2016.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
One compound tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
- Lead
Violations since 2016
| Contaminant or rule | Type | Period | Measured | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Average | July 1, 2025 to Sept. 30, 2025 | 0.061 MG/L | Resolved |
| Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Average | April 1, 2025 to June 30, 2025 | 0.062 MG/L | Resolved |
| Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Average | Jan. 1, 2025 to March 31, 2025 | 0.079 MG/L | Resolved |
| Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Average | Oct. 1, 2024 to Dec. 31, 2024 | 0.07 MG/L | Resolved |
| Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Average | July 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2024 | 0.063 MG/L | Resolved |
| Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 1 monitoring or reporting violation not shown. | ||||
What this report can’t tell you
Everything else. Haloacetic acids (HAA5) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) results here are Kansas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. City of Cedar Vale’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 March 10, 2020 to Aug. 25, 2026.
Testing your own tap
The lab Kansas certifies closest to the area City of Cedar Vale serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Meridian Analytical Laboratory - Wichita
Wichita, KS · about 55 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts
Sources
- EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data, file of Oct. 15, 2026
- EPA SDWA bulk download (SDWIS federal data), 2026 Q3
- Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Public Water Supply Section, results from Jan. 2, 2020 to Sept. 16, 2026, read Oct. 18, 2026
- EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, file of Feb. 5, 2024
- Certified labs: Kansas Department of Health and Environment, drinking water labs, as listed in TNI LAMS, read Oct. 13, 2026; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer
- Limits and goals: each contaminant’s page, with its EPA source.
- How this page is built: methodology.
PWSID KS2001902. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.
Towns it serves
Also in Chautauqua County
- City of Sedan1,005
- Chautauqua Co RWD 4475
- Chautauqua Co RWD 2278
- Chautauqua Co RWD 3200
- Chautauqua Co RWD 1135
- City of Chautauqua110
What to do next
- Read up on Haloacetic acids (HAA5)What each one does to health, where it comes from, and the certification claim that addresses it.About Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
- Get the utility’s own reportCity of Cedar Vale must send you a water quality report every year. It covers contaminants this page does not show.How to read it
- Test your own tap for leadYour service line, solder and fixtures decide the lead at your faucet, not the utility’s average.Lead in your water: what to do
- Decide if you want a filter at allA filter for taste or chlorine is a preference, not a need. The standards say what each kind can do.NSF/ANSI standards, decoded