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Graham 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
170 people
Connections
78
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Graham, MO
County
Nodaway
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

64455

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, and 2 more are above the health goal. 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.

Arsenic, nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): 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.

Fluoride and chromium (total): EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from March 17, 2014 to March 15, 2017. 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

1.5ppm

90th percentile, 2020 to 2022

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.5 ppm, above EPA’s action level of 1.3 ppm.

What handles it

Above the health goal2

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 1.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.3 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 1.2 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.7 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”

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

0.85ppb

90th percentile, 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 0.85 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 limits5

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

3.4ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 2.6 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.4 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 2.6 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 3.6 ppm, in 2019.

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

23.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 23.6 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 19.1 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

8.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 5.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 8.3 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 5.3 ppb.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.19ppm

Highest yearly average, 2014 to 2017

2017, one sample: 0.18 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.19 ppm, in 2014, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2017, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.18 ppm.

What handles it

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

4.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2014 to 2017

Averaged by year, the highest was 4.0 ppb, in 2017, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

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: Copper Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Copper, Arsenic, Lead

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

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

    For: Copper, Arsenic, Lead

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

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 reverse osmosis systems, ranked

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 4 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are Missouri’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Fluoride and chromium (total) come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Graham PWS’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 17, 2014 to March 15, 2017.

Testing your own tap

Graham 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 2 labs Missouri certifies closest to the area Graham 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 72 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (816) 285-5745

  • Kansas City Water Services Laboratory

    Kansas City, MO · about 75 miles

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

    (816) 513-7008

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 MO1010319. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Nodaway County

All Missouri utilities

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