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Rickreall Water Association

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
1,650 people
Connections
550
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Rickreall, OR
County
Polk
Owner
Private
The 3 ZIP codes it serves

97304, 97351, 97371

The short answer

2 results are above EPA’s legal limit, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Copper, above the action level. 2 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 1997 to 2026.

Nitrate and arsenic: 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.

Uranium, chromium (total) and fluoride: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Nov. 12, 2013 to Oct. 16, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the legal limit2

Copper

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the action level

1.4ppm

90th percentile, 2024 to 2026

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.4 ppm, above EPA’s action level of 1.3 ppm.

What handles it

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Above the legal limit

5.9ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 5.2 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 5.9 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 5.2 ppm. EPA judges this limit at each sampling point, and recorded a violation for nitrate at this utility in 2025. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 12.4 ppm, in 2016, and EPA recorded a violation in 2016.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”

Above the health goal1

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2013 to 2019

2019 average: 0.28 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.1 ppb, in 2017: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 1.5 ppb. In 2019, the latest year on file, its four samples averaged 0.28 ppb.

What handles it

4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Fluoride
  • Lead

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, Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)

    For: Copper, Nitrate

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Copper Reduction, Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction, Uranium

    For: Copper, Nitrate, Uranium

    Other certifiers’ wording: Nitrate

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

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The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
NitrateThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2025 to June 30, 202512 MG/LArchived
NitrateThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2016 to March 31, 201611.8 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 78 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Nitrate and arsenic results here are Oregon’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Uranium, chromium (total) and fluoride come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Rickreall Water Association’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 Nov. 12, 2013 to Oct. 16, 2019.

Testing your own tap

Rickreall Water Association’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 Rickreall Water Association serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Waterlab Corp.

    Salem, OR · about 5 miles

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

    (503) 363-0473

  • Willow Lake Laboratory, City of Salem

    Salem, OR · about 9 miles

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

    (503) 588-6380

  • U.S. Region 9 Lab - Corvallis, OR

    Corvallis, OR · about 20 miles

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

    (541) 754-4571

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 OR4100704. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Polk County

All Oregon utilities

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