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Hays Suburban Estates

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
38 people
Connections
18
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Hays, KS
County
Ellis
Owner
Private
Hardness
Very hard

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, and 2 more are above the health goal. The worst: Nitrate, above the legal limit. 6 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2004 to 2024.

Nitrate, arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride and chromium (total): Kansas’s own results, samples taken from April 6, 2020 to Sept. 8, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit1

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Above the legal limit

12ppm

Highest sample; found in 20 of 20

2026 average: 11 ppm

From 2023 to 2026, eight samples were above EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm, the highest 12 ppm in 2024. The next sample at the same point, within 30 days, kept the average above the limit for one; one came back under and six have no follow-up sample on file within 30 days. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 11 ppm, above the limit. EPA recorded violations for nitrate at this utility in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 10 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

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

Above the health goal2

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

3.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024, one sample: 2.6 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.9 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, its one sample was 2.6 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 3.0 ppb, in 2018.

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

4.4ppb

90th percentile, 2022 to 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 4.4 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 limits4

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

18ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 4.9 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 18 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 4.9 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 7.9 ppb, in 2013.

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

Below EPA’s limits

10ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 3.7 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 10 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 3.7 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 3.1 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.48ppm

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.48 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.46 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

3.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024

2024: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.8 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 1.3 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: Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge), Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Nitrate, Arsenic, Lead

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

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

    For: Nitrate, Arsenic, Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: Nitrate; 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, 410 mg/L (24 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 24 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Kansas water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleApril 1, 2026 to June 30, 202612 MG/LArchived
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleJan. 1, 2026 to March 31, 202611 MG/LArchived
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleOct. 1, 2025 to Dec. 31, 202511 MG/LArchived
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleJuly 1, 2025 to Sept. 30, 202511 MG/LArchived
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleApril 1, 2024 to June 30, 202412 MG/LResolved
NitrateA sample was above the legal limit, for a contaminant judged one sample at a time.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Single SampleOct. 1, 2023 to Dec. 31, 202311 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 10 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Nitrate, arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride and chromium (total) results here are Kansas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Hays Suburban Estates’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 April 6, 2020 to Sept. 8, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Hays Suburban Estates’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.

No lab Kansas certifies is within 75 miles of the area Hays Suburban Estates serves on the state’s list. Some take samples by mail; the state’s page lists them all.

All 47 certified labs for Kansas

Sources

PWSID KS2005116. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Ellis County

All Kansas utilities

What to do next