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Forest City PWS

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
260 people
Connections
133
Water source
Groundwater bought from another system
Based in
Forest City, MO
County
Holt
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

64451

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), above the legal limit. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2021 to 2025.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): Missouri’s yearly averages per water system, as CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network publishes them, 2021 to 2023.

Above the legal limit1

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the legal limit

108ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2023

2023 average: 46.1 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 108 ppb, in 2022, above EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 46.1 ppb. EPA recorded a violation for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility in 2023.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

0.8ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 0.8 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 limits1

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

23.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2023

2023 average: 9.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 23.6 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 9.4 ppb.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

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

    Claims: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: VOC Reduction

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), 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
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2023 to June 30, 202382 UG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 4 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are Missouri’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2021 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Forest City PWS’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; CDC’s yearly averages for Missouri cover 2021 to 2023.

Testing your own tap

Forest City PWS’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.

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

  • Premium Waters Inc. Central Laboratory

    Riverside, MO · about 65 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (816) 285-5745

  • Kansas City Water Services Laboratory

    Kansas City, MO · about 68 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts

    (816) 513-7008

  • Blue Valley Laboratories Inc.

    Kansas City, MO · about 71 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (816) 471-4719

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 MO1011643. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Holt County

All Missouri utilities

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