Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Is Carlsbad, NM tap water safe?

2 utilities serve Carlsbad, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and New Mexico’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

1 of the 2 utilities serving Carlsbad has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and New Mexico’s records: Otis Mdwca.

Carlsbad Municipal Water System, which serves the most people here, has 3 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 21 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. 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 Carlsbad’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 Carlsbad Municipal Water System’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

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

Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Carlsbad

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 New Mexico certifies.

The lab New Mexico certifies closest to Carlsbad, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Cardinal Laboratories

    Hobbs, NM · about 72 miles

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

    (575) 393-2326

New Mexico Environment Department: Water fairs in New Mexico communities, where well owners bring in a quart of well water to be tested for arsenic, nitrate, fluoride, iron, sulfate, pH and conductivity, with results mailed in two to four weeks. Dates are on the department's calendar. Water Fairs, New Mexico Environment Department.

All 44 certified labs for New Mexico

ZIP codes in Carlsbad

Which ZIP codes are in Carlsbad: 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: New Mexico Environment Department, Drinking Water Bureau, laboratories certified to analyze drinking water samples; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

What to do next