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City of Port Orford

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
1,200 people
Connections
772
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Port Orford, OR
County
Curry
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

97465

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 4 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2007 to 2027.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 2.0 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 2000. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and nitrate: Oregon’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.

Arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride and uranium: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from July 10, 2013 to April 16, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

1.4ppb

90th percentile, 2025 to 2027

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.4 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 limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

61.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 52.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 61.8 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 52.2 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 78.8 ppb, in 2015, and EPA recorded a violation in 2017.

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

30.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 23 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 30.1 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 23 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 55.4 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.15ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 0.1 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.15 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 0.1 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.26 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Fluoride
  • Uranium

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
Surface Water Treatment RuleRequired treatment for surface water or groundwater was not met.EPA: Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR)May 1, 2018 to May 31, 2018—Resolved
Surface Water Treatment RuleRequired treatment for surface water or groundwater was not met.EPA: Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR)April 1, 2018 to April 30, 2018—Resolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2017 to June 30, 20170.081 MG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2017 to March 31, 20170.082 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 6 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and nitrate results here are Oregon’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride and uranium come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. City of Port Orford’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 Oregon cover 2020 to 2023; EPA’s compliance samples are from July 10, 2013 to April 16, 2019.

Testing your own tap

City of Port Orford’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 Oregon certifies.

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

  • McCowan Clinical Laboratory Inc.

    Coos Bay, OR · about 42 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (541) 267-7853

  • Grants Pass Water Laboratory, Inc./The Water Lab

    Grants Pass, OR · about 54 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (541) 476-0733

  • Umpqua Research Company

    Myrtle Creek, OR · about 60 miles

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

    (541) 863-5201

Oregon State University Extension Well Water Program: Nitrate screening of well water at many of its groundwater education events. The screening is free. Water Testing Guidance for Private Wells, OSU Well Water Program.

All 91 certified labs for Oregon

Sources

PWSID OR4100670. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Curry County

All Oregon utilities

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