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City of Hillsboro

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
2,740 people
Connections
1,155
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Hillsboro, KS
County
Marion
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

67063

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 4 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2007 to 2023.

Haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and nitrate: Kansas’s own results, samples taken from March 9, 2020 to June 4, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

3.3ppb

90th percentile, 2021 to 2023

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 3.3 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

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

59ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 59 ppb, in 2026, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 65 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. EPA recorded no violation for haloacetic acids (HAA5) at this utility since 2020. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 84.5 ppb, in 2015, and EPA recorded violations in 2015 and 2016.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

48.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 42.5 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 48.8 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 73 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 42.5 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 79.5 ppb, in 2018, and EPA recorded a violation 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

0.4ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 0.25 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.4 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.25 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.37 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • 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

Very hard, 275 mg/L (16.1 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 16.1 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Kansas water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2019 to June 30, 20190.083 MG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2019 to March 31, 20190.081 MG/LResolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2016 to June 30, 20160.074 MG/LResolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2016 to March 31, 20160.086 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 28 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and nitrate results here are Kansas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. City of Hillsboro’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 9, 2020 to June 4, 2026.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Pace Analytical Services, Inc. - Salina

    Salina, KS · about 41 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (913) 599-5665

  • Meridian Analytical Laboratory - Wichita

    Wichita, KS · about 49 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts

    (316) 618-8787

  • Irwin Army Community Hospital-Water Laboratory-PH-EH

    Fort Riley, KS · about 57 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (785) 239-7516

All 47 certified labs for Kansas

Sources

PWSID KS2011505. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Marion County

All Kansas utilities

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