Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Is St. Helens, OR tap water safe?

4 utilities serve St. Helens, 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

3 of the 4 utilities serving St. Helens have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and CDC’s records: McNulty Water PUD, Deer Island Heights WS and Deer Island Waterworks.

City of St Helens, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 1.0 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 St. Helens’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 City of St Helens’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 St. Helens

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 Oregon certifies.

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

  • ALS Environmental, Kelso

    Kelso, WA · about 22 miles

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

    (360) 501-3362

  • BSK Associates ?Vancouver

    Vancouver, WA · about 23 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (360) 869-6344

  • OMIC USA Inc.

    Portland, OR · about 25 miles

    (503) 223-1497

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

ZIP codes in St. Helens

Which ZIP codes are in St. Helens: 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: Oregon Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, drinking water labs, as listed in TNI LAMS; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near St. Helens

Other towns in Columbia County with a page of their own.

What to do next