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Ottawa Co RWD 1

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
198 people
Connections
62
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Ada, KS
County
Ottawa
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Moderately hard
The ZIP code it serves

67467

The short answer

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

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2018 to 2026.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.4 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 2019. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, fluoride, chromium (total) and arsenic: Kansas’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 6, 2020 to Jan. 28, 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

1.2ppb

90th percentile, 2024 to 2026

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.2 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

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

43ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023, one sample: 20 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 43 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2023, 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 20 ppb, in 2017.

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

27ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023, one sample: 13 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 27 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, its one sample was 13 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 11 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.5ppm

Highest sample; found in 11 of 11

2026 average: 2.5 ppm

The highest sample, in 2026, was 2.5 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That was also the latest year on file, and its two samples averaged 2.5 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 1.5 ppm, in 2016.

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

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.25 ppm, in 2026, 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 0.23 ppm, in 2014.

What handles it

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

1.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.0 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. 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 2.8 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

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

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

Moderately hard, typically 108 mg/L (6.3 grains per gallon), across 2 sampling points, 2017 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 6.3 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Kansas water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Revised Total Coliform RuleColiform results required a check of the system, and the check or its fixes were not done on time.EPA: Treatment Technique, Level 1 Assessment (RTCR)Dec. 7, 2021—Resolved
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), haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate, fluoride, chromium (total) and arsenic results here are Kansas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Ottawa Co RWD 1’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. 6, 2020 to Jan. 28, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Ottawa Co RWD 1’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 Ottawa Co RWD 1 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 22 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (913) 599-5665

  • LandIntel Solutions, LLC

    Scandia, KS · about 44 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (785) 335-2054

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

    Fort Riley, KS · about 49 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (785) 239-7516

All 47 certified labs for Kansas

Sources

PWSID KS2014304. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Ottawa County

All Kansas utilities

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