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Bear Creek Water System

What EPA’s and CDC’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
435 people
Connections
145
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Quitman, LA
County
Jackson Parish
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

71268

The short answer

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

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2004 to 2023.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.5 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 2004. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and nitrate: Louisiana’s yearly averages per water system, as CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network publishes them, 2020 to 2022, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and uranium: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Nov. 4, 2013 to Oct. 29, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

3.0ppb

90th percentile, 2021 to 2023

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 3.0 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

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

23.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

2022 average: 14.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 23.2 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2022, the latest year on file, it averaged 14.4 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 26.2 ppb, in 2014.

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

6.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

2022 average: 5.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 6.8 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2022, the latest year on file, it averaged 5.4 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 7.3 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.14ppm

Highest yearly average, 2013 to 2019

2019 average: 0.11 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.14 ppm, in 2016, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.18 ppm. In 2019, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.11 ppm.

What handles it

4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Nitrate
  • Uranium

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

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Groundwater RuleA significant problem found in a state inspection was not fixed on time.EPA: Failure To Address DeficiencyApril 30, 2022—Unaddressed
Groundwater RuleA significant problem found in a state inspection was not fixed on time.EPA: Failure To Address DeficiencyApril 30, 2022—Unaddressed
Groundwater RuleA significant problem found in a state inspection was not fixed on time.EPA: Failure To Address DeficiencySept. 12, 2019—Resolved
Groundwater RuleA significant problem found in a state inspection was not fixed on time.EPA: Failure To Address DeficiencySept. 12, 2019—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 3 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and nitrate results here are Louisiana’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and uranium come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Bear Creek Water System’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has newer results for those and 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; CDC’s yearly averages for Louisiana cover 2020 to 2022; EPA’s compliance samples are from Nov. 4, 2013 to Oct. 29, 2019.

Testing your own tap

Bear Creek Water System’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 Louisiana certifies.

The 2 labs Louisiana certifies closest to the area Bear Creek Water System serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • LDH Shreveport Regional Laboratory

    Shreveport, LA · about 59 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (318) 676-7809

  • LDH Rapides Regional Laboratory

    Alexandria, LA · about 74 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (318) 487-5282

All 48 certified labs for Louisiana

Sources

PWSID LA1049001. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Jackson Parish

All Louisiana utilities

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