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Federal Corr Institute Loretto

What EPA’s and Pennsylvania’s records show in this utility’s water: PFAS; nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
1,500 people
Connections
9
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Cresson, PA
County
Cambria
Owner
Federal government
The ZIP code it serves

15940

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: PFOA, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

PFAS: Pennsylvania’s own results under its PFAS rule, entry point samples taken from Feb. 16, 2024 to June 3, 2026.

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 1994 to 1996.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride, nitrate and uranium: Pennsylvania’s own results, samples taken from Aug. 5, 2020 to Aug. 12, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

PFAS: PFOA was found, of the six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 drinking water rule; its result is below. None of the other 12 PFAS tested for was found.

EPA’s 2024 PFAS rule, compound by compound

PFASEPA’s limitResult
PFOA4.0 pptAbove the health goal2.1 ppt highest, found in 1 of 5 samples. Details
PFOS4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 5 samples
PFHxS10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 5 samples
PFNA10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 5 samples
HFPO-DA (GenX)10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 5 samples
PFBSIndex onlyNot foundNot found in any of 5 samples
Results from Pennsylvania’s own PFAS monitoring, samples where water enters the pipes; each compound’s card has its four-quarter averages, the way limits are judged. The limits are EPA’s 2024 rule, with compliance due from 2029; EPA has since proposed changes to some of them, explained on each compound’s page. Pennsylvania’s own limits for PFOA and PFOS are in force now. PFBS has no limit of its own and counts only toward EPA’s Hazard Index, which TapBuff works out only from UCMR 5’s averages, so it isn’t given here.

About PFAS certifications

NSF’s PFAS claims are tested to below 20 ppt. EPA’s limit is 4.0 ppt, and EPA says no certification yet shows a filter reaching its levels.

Above the health goal2

PFOA

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

2.1ppt

Highest sample, Aug. 8, 2024; found in 1 of 5

2026: not found

The highest sample was 2.1 ppt: below EPA’s new limit of 4.0 ppt, which takes effect in 2029, but above its health goal of zero. Averaged over four quarters at one entry point, the way both Pennsylvania’s limit and EPA’s are judged, the highest was 0.53 ppt, for the year to Dec. 31, 2024: below Pennsylvania’s limit of 14 ppt and below EPA’s new limit of 4.0 ppt. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample.

What handles it

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

1.0ppb

90th percentile, 1996

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.0 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 limits2

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

6.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 5.6 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 6.5 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 5.6 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 6.3 ppb, 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

2.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.9 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

22 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.

From routine monitoring

  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Fluoride
  • Nitrate
  • Uranium

PFAS, from Pennsylvania’s own monitoring

  • 11Cl-PF3OUdS
  • 9Cl-PF3ONS
  • ADONA
  • HFPO-DA (GenX)
  • NEtFOSAA
  • NMeFOSAA
  • PFBS
  • PFDA
  • PFDoA
  • PFHpA
  • PFHxA
  • PFHxS
  • PFNA
  • PFOS
  • PFTA
  • PFTrDA
  • PFUnA

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: PFOA Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: PFOA, Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: Total PFAS Reduction; Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA), Lead Reduction

    For: PFOA, 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 PFAS, ranked

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 32 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride, nitrate and uranium results here are Pennsylvania’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Federal Corr Institute Loretto’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 Aug. 5, 2020 to Aug. 12, 2026; Pennsylvania’s PFAS results run from Feb. 16, 2024 to June 3, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Federal Corr Institute Loretto’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 Federal Corr Institute Loretto serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Pace Analytical Services, LLC - Altoona, PA

    Altoona, PA · about 13 miles

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

    (814) 946-4306

  • Cardan Laboratories Inc

    Northern Cambria, PA · about 14 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (814) 948-8650

  • Chemstream Lab Services

    Homer City, PA · about 24 miles

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

    (724) 915-8388

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 PA4110067. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Cambria County

All Pennsylvania utilities

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