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Public Wholesale WSD 12

What EPA’s and Kansas’s records show in this utility’s water: nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals, plus violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
1 people
Connections
10
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Melvern, KS
County
Osage
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Hard
The ZIP code it serves

66067

The short answer

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

What handles it

What was found

Arsenic, haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, chromium (total) and nitrate: Kansas’s own results, samples taken from Feb. 18, 2020 to Aug. 17, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.0 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, it wasn’t found in its one sample. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.2 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”

Below EPA’s limits4

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

53.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 41 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 53.3 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 85 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 41 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 46 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

55ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 50 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 55 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 75 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 50 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 84 ppb, in 2016.

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

0.17ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.17 ppm, in 2021, 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 0.28 ppm, in 2014.

What handles it

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

1.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.1 ppb, in 2023, 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 1.9 ppb, in 2012.

What handles it

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

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

At the tap, or for the whole house?

These come with the water itself, so a whole-house system certified for the same claims treats every tap and shower. A filter at the tap treats drinking water for much less. 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

Hardness

Hard, 140 mg/L (8.2 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 8.2 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Kansas water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Total organic carbonNot enough organic matter was removed. It reacts with disinfectant to form byproducts.EPA: Treatment Technique Precursor RemovalOct. 1, 2016 to Dec. 31, 2016—Resolved
Total organic carbonNot enough organic matter was removed. It reacts with disinfectant to form byproducts.EPA: Treatment Technique Precursor RemovalJuly 1, 2016 to Sept. 30, 2016—Resolved
Total organic carbonNot enough organic matter was removed. It reacts with disinfectant to form byproducts.EPA: Treatment Technique Precursor RemovalApril 1, 2016 to June 30, 2016—Resolved
Total organic carbonNot enough organic matter was removed. It reacts with disinfectant to form byproducts.EPA: Treatment Technique Precursor RemovalJan. 1, 2016 to March 31, 2016—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 1 monitoring or reporting violation not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, chromium (total) and nitrate results here are Kansas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Public Wholesale WSD 12’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. 18, 2020 to Aug. 17, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Public Wholesale WSD 12’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 Public Wholesale WSD 12 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 28 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper

    (913) 715-6950

  • Olathe Environmental Laboratory

    Olathe, KS · about 28 miles

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

    (913) 971-8310

  • Eurofins Kansas City

    Lenexa, KS · about 37 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (319) 595-2009

All 47 certified labs for Kansas

Sources

PWSID KS2013919. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Osage County

All Kansas utilities

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