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Brandon

What EPA’s and Minnesota’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
501 people
Connections
250
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Brandon, MN
County
Douglas
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

56315

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit. The worst: Copper, above the action level. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2007 to 2022.

Haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate and total trihalomethanes (TTHM): Minnesota’s yearly summaries per water system, 2023 to 2025, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Fluoride: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Feb. 1, 2012 to Dec. 19, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the legal limit1

Copper

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the action level

1.4ppm

90th percentile, 2020 to 2022

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.4 ppm, above EPA’s action level of 1.3 ppm.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits4

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

1.3ppm

Highest yearly average, 2012 to 2019

2019 average: 0.73 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.3 ppm, in 2014, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 2.6 ppm. In 2019, the latest year on file, its four samples averaged 0.73 ppm.

What handles it

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

5.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2023 to 2025

2025 average: 2.1 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 5.5 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, it averaged 2.1 ppb.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.4ppm

Highest yearly average, 2023 to 2025

2025 average: 0.2 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.4 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, it averaged 0.2 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 1.5 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

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

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

1.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2023 to 2025

2025 average: 0.9 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.2 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, it averaged 0.9 ppb.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
One compound tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Lead

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

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Haloacetic acids (HAA5), nitrate and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) results here are Minnesota’s own yearly summaries from 2023 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Fluoride comes from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Brandon’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; Minnesota’s yearly summaries cover 2023 to 2025; EPA’s compliance samples are from Feb. 1, 2012 to Dec. 19, 2019.

Testing your own tap

Brandon’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 Minnesota certifies.

The 3 labs Minnesota certifies closest to the area Brandon serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Steven M. Traut Wells, Inc.

    Alexandria, MN · about 12 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (320) 762-1528

  • RMB Environmental Laboratories, Inc. – Detroit Lakes

    Detroit Lakes, MN · about 60 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals

    (218) 846-1465

  • Traut Water Analysis Lab

    St. Joseph, MN · about 66 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (320) 251-5090

All 24 certified labs for Minnesota

Sources

PWSID MN1210009. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Douglas County

All Minnesota utilities

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