Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

College of the Ozarks

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
1,700 people
Connections
59
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Point Lookout, MO
County
Taney
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

65726

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the health goal. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and nitrate: Missouri’s yearly averages per water system, as CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network publishes them, 2020 to 2023, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Uranium, chromium (total) and fluoride: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from March 28, 2012 to June 25, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal2

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 0.77 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.2 ppb, in 2020: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 0.77 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 2.3 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

2.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2014 to 2015

2015 average: 1.9 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.0 ppb, in 2014: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 2.0 ppb. In 2015, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 1.9 ppb.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits4

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

63ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 63 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 50.1 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

35.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 35.1 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 34.9 ppb, in 2013.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.54ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.54 ppm, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 1.1 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

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

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2012 to 2019

2019: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.2 ppb, in 2016, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. In 2019, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample.

What handles it

2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Fluoride
  • 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.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Uranium

    For: Arsenic, Uranium

    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

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment RuleToo many readings in a month showed cloudiness above the filtration standard.EPA: Monthly Turbidity Exceed (Enhanced SWTR)Nov. 1, 2020 to Nov. 30, 2020—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and nitrate results here are Missouri’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Uranium, chromium (total) and fluoride come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. College of the Ozarks’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 Missouri cover 2020 to 2023; EPA’s compliance samples are from March 28, 2012 to June 25, 2019.

Testing your own tap

College of the Ozarks’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 Missouri certifies.

No lab Missouri certifies is within 75 miles of the area College of the Ozarks serves on the state’s list. Some take samples by mail; the state’s page lists them all.

Missouri State Public Health Laboratory: Coliform and E. coli testing for private wells and other private drinking water sources, in kits from your local public health agency. A free state courier can carry the sample to the lab overnight. The handling fee is $10, by check or money order. Private Drinking Water Bacteriological Testing, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

All 64 certified labs for Missouri

Sources

PWSID MO5069033. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Taney County

All Missouri utilities

What to do next