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MO American Lawson

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
2,546 people
Connections
1,196
Water source
Groundwater bought from another system
Based in
Lawson, MO
County
Ray
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

64062

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 2 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2013 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, 2020 to 2023, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

2.0ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 2.0 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 limits2

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

48.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 22.7 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 48.9 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 22.7 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 71.3 ppb, in 2014, and EPA recorded a violation in 2016.

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

32.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 31.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 32.6 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 31.3 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 36.9 ppb, in 2014.

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.”

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, AverageJuly 1, 2016 to Sept. 30, 201682 UG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2016 to June 30, 201683 UG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 1 monitoring or reporting violation 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 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. MO American Lawson’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 2020 to 2023.

Testing your own tap

MO American Lawson’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 MO American Lawson serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • City of Independence Water Department

    Sugar Creek, MO · about 21 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (816) 325-7708

  • Tri-County Water Authority

    Independence, MO · about 21 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (816) 796-4100

  • Kansas City Water Services Laboratory

    Kansas City, MO · about 31 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 MO1010454. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Ray County

All Missouri utilities

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