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City of Valley 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
1,086 people
Connections
495
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Valley Falls, KS
County
Jefferson
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Hard
The ZIP code it serves

66088

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, and 2 more are above the health goal. The worst: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), above the legal limit. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

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

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), arsenic, haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, fluoride and chromium (total): Kansas’s own results, samples taken from Feb. 24, 2020 to Aug. 19, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit1

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the legal limit

72.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 35.7 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 72.5 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 160 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 35.7 ppb. EPA judges this limit at each sampling point, and recorded a violation for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility in 2023. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 55.7 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

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

Above the health goal2

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

3.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 1.6 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.9 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 1.6 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 4.3 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”

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 limits3

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

48.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 19.7 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 48.8 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 79 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 19.7 ppb. 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 30 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.0ppm

Highest sample; found in 4 of 14

2026 average: 0.44 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 2.0 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.44 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 2.2 ppm, in 2018.

What handles it

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

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.25ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.25 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. 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 0.26 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

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

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

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), Arsenic, Lead

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

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

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), 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

Hard, 180 mg/L (10.5 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 10.5 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, AverageJan. 1, 2023 to March 31, 20230.082 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 11 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), arsenic, haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, fluoride and chromium (total) results here are Kansas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. City of Valley 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 Feb. 24, 2020 to Aug. 19, 2026.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Johnson County Water Quality Laboratory

    Olathe, KS · about 44 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper

    (913) 715-6950

  • Olathe Environmental Laboratory

    Olathe, KS · about 44 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (913) 971-8310

  • Water District No 1 of Johnson County-WaterOne

    Kansas City, KS · about 45 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (913) 895-5800

All 47 certified labs for Kansas

Sources

PWSID KS2008710. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Jefferson County

All Kansas utilities

What to do next