Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Cambridge Area Joint Auth

What EPA’s and Pennsylvania’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
225 people
Connections
84
Water source
Surface water bought from another system
Based in
Cambridge Springs, PA
County
Crawford
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

16403

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit. The worst: Lead, above the action level. 4 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 1993 to 2008.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): Pennsylvania’s own results, samples taken from May 11, 2020 to May 13, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the action level

24ppb

90th percentile, 2008

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 24 ppb, above EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027, and this result is at or above that. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits2

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

76ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025, one sample: 63.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 76 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 63.3 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 72.9 ppb, in 2015.

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

50.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 50.9 ppb, in 2026, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 66.2 ppb, in 2017, and EPA recorded violations in 2017 and 2018.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

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
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2018 to March 31, 2018—Resolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2017 to Dec. 31, 2017—Resolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2017 to Sept. 30, 2017—Resolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2017 to June 30, 2017—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 11 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are Pennsylvania’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Cambridge Area Joint Auth’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has 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; Pennsylvania’s results run from May 11, 2020 to May 13, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Cambridge Area Joint Auth’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 Pennsylvania certifies.

The 3 labs Pennsylvania certifies closest to the area Cambridge Area Joint Auth serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Presque Isle Water Testing

    Erie, PA · about 20 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (814) 636-0555

  • Microbac Laboratories, Inc - Erie Division

    Erie, PA · about 22 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (814) 825-8533

  • Pace Analytical Services, LLC - Erie

    Erie, PA · about 22 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (814) 660-6078

Penn State Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory: Drinking water test kits from many county Extension offices, mailed back to the lab overnight with payment. Packages cover bacteria and basic chemistry, with add-ons for nitrate, metals, lead, and mining or gas drilling concerns. The standard package of bacteria, pH and total dissolved solids is $60, or $70 with nitrate; bacteria alone is $40, nitrate $15 and lead $25. Drinking Water Testing, Penn State Agricultural Analytical Services Lab.

All 108 certified labs for Pennsylvania

Sources

PWSID PA6200003. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Crawford County

All Pennsylvania utilities

What to do next