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Cowley Co RWD 6

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
792 people
Connections
289
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Arkansas City, KS
County
Cowley
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

67005

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2007 to 2024.

Arsenic, haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, fluoride and chromium (total): Kansas’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 28, 2020 to Jan. 20, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal2

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.9 ppb, in 2021: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. In 2024, 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 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

1.6ppb

90th percentile, 2022 to 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.6 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

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

35ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025, one sample: 8.8 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 35 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 8.8 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 10 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

43ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025, one sample: 20 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 43 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 20 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 63 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

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

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

4.6ppm

Highest sample; found in 9 of 9

2026, one sample: 3.9 ppm

The highest sample, in 2023, was 4.6 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 3.9 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 4.1 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

0.36ppm

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024, one sample: 0.33 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.36 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2024, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.33 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.39 ppm, in 2018.

What handles it

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.1 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. In 2024, 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 4.9 ppb, in 2018.

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

    For: Arsenic, Lead

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

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

    For: 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, 325 mg/L (19 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, 2015 to 2024.

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 19 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Kansas water hardness, utility by utility

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. Arsenic, haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, fluoride and chromium (total) results here are Kansas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Cowley Co RWD 6’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. 28, 2020 to Jan. 20, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Cowley Co RWD 6’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 2 labs Kansas certifies closest to the area Cowley Co RWD 6 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 41 miles

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

    (316) 618-8787

  • Accurate Environmental Labs - Stillwater

    Stillwater, OK · about 68 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, PFAS

    (405) 372-5300

All 47 certified labs for Kansas

Sources

PWSID KS2003506. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Cowley County

All Kansas utilities

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