City of Cottonwood Falls
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
- 821 people
- Connections
- 502
- Water source
- Groundwater bought from another system
- Based in
- Cottonwood Falls, KS
- County
- Chase
- Owner
- Local government
- Hardness
- Very hard
The ZIP code it serves
The short answer
Nothing in EPA’s and Kansas’s records for this utility is above a health goal. That covers nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals, plus lead and copper, not everything. No health-based violations on file since 2016.
What was found
Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): Kansas’s own results, samples taken from Sept. 15, 2020 to Sept. 8, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.
Below EPA’s limits2
Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)
Forms or is added in treatment
25ppb
Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026
2026, one sample: 25 ppb
Averaged by year, the highest was 25 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 25 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 67 ppb, in 2015.
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
8.6ppb
Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026
2026, one sample: 4.8 ppb
Averaged by year, the highest was 8.6 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 4.8 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 17 ppb, in 2012.
What handles it
No certification claim covers this compound yet.
One compound tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
- Lead
Hardness
Very hard, 275 mg/L (16.1 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, in 2015.
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.
Violations since 2016
No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 3 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.
What this report can’t tell you
Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are Kansas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. City of Cottonwood Falls’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 Sept. 15, 2020 to Sept. 8, 2026.
Testing your own tap
The 3 labs Kansas certifies closest to the area City of Cottonwood Falls serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Irwin Army Community Hospital-Water Laboratory-PH-EH
Fort Riley, KS · about 57 miles
Certified for bacteria
Meridian Analytical Laboratory - Wichita
Wichita, KS · about 61 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts
Pace Analytical Services, Inc. - Salina
Salina, KS · about 72 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate
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
- Hardness: Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Public Water Supply Section, results from Feb. 2, 2015 to March 2, 2015, read Oct. 18, 2026
- Limits and goals: each contaminant’s page, with its EPA source.
- How this page is built: methodology.
PWSID KS2001703. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.
What to do next
- Nothing here is above a health goalIn EPA’s and Kansas’s records for this utility. They don’t cover everything, which is why the next step matters.Every contaminant TapBuff tracks
- Get the utility’s own reportCity of Cottonwood Falls 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