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Is Buffalo, MO tap water safe?

3 utilities serve Buffalo, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and CDC’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

None of the 3 utilities serving Buffalo has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and CDC’s records.

Buffalo PWS, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 2.0 ppb, above the health goal. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Buffalo’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in Buffalo PWS’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

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Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Buffalo

A utility tests the water it sends out. A test of your own tap shows what your pipes add, and on a private well it is the only test there is. It takes a lab Missouri certifies.

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

  • Laclede County Health Department Laboratory

    Lebanon, MO · about 25 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (417) 532-3477

  • Lake of the Ozarks Water Services

    Camdenton, MO · about 31 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (573) 346-2092

  • Total Water Laboratories LLC

    Camdenton, MO · about 31 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (833) 688-6606

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

ZIP codes in Buffalo

Which ZIP codes are in Buffalo: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: Missouri DNR, certified microbiological and chemical laboratories; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Buffalo

Towns nearby with a page of their own.

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