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Lca Arcadia West Division

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
1,392 people
Connections
21
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Allentown, PA
County
Lehigh
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Very hard
The 2 ZIP codes it serves

18051, 18066

The short answer

1 result is 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 March 6, 2024 to Feb. 10, 2026.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.5 ppm, for the period ending June 30, 2000. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride and uranium: Pennsylvania’s own results, samples taken from April 14, 2020 to Aug. 4, 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.

EPA’s 2024 PFAS rule, compound by compound

PFASEPA’s limitResult
PFOA4.0 pptAbove the health goal1.9 ppt highest, found in 1 of 9 samples. Details
PFOS4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 9 samples
PFHxS10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 7 samples
PFNA10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 7 samples
HFPO-DA (GenX)10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 7 samples
PFBSIndex onlyNot foundNot found in any of 7 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 goal1

PFOA

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.9ppt

Highest sample, Feb. 11, 2025; found in 1 of 9

2026: not found

The highest sample was 1.9 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 0.47 ppt, for the year to March 31, 2025: 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

Below EPA’s limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

58.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 23.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 58.8 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 23.4 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 58.4 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

5.2ppm

Highest sample; found in 11 of 11

2026, one sample: 3.5 ppm

The highest sample, in 2021, was 5.2 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 3.5 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 5.0 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

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

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

19.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 5.6 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 19.9 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 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 12.8 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

9 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
  • Uranium

PFAS, from Pennsylvania’s own monitoring

  • HFPO-DA (GenX)
  • PFBS
  • PFHxS
  • PFNA
  • PFOS

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

    Claim: PFOA Reduction

    For: PFOA

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claim: Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)

    For: PFOA

At the tap, or for the whole house?

These come with the water itself, so a whole-house system certified for the same claims treats every tap and shower. A filter at the tap treats drinking water for much less. 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

Hardness

Very hard, 237 mg/L (13.8 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, in 2024.

Hardness is calcium and magnesium. EPA sets no limit for it: it shows up as scale on fixtures and in water heaters, and as soap that won’t lather. USGS calls water above 60 mg/L moderately hard, above 120 hard and above 180 very hard.

Softeners compared at 13.8 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Pennsylvania water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 11 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride and uranium results here are Pennsylvania’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Lca Arcadia West Division’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 April 14, 2020 to Aug. 4, 2026; Pennsylvania’s PFAS results run from March 6, 2024 to Feb. 10, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Lca Arcadia West Division’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 Lca Arcadia West Division serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • ABE Laboratories LLC

    Bath, PA · about 18 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (610) 837-7721

  • SPL - Reading

    Reading, PA · about 20 miles

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

    (610) 375-8378

  • Eurofins Philadelphia - Wind Gap

    Wind Gap, PA · about 24 miles

    (215) 355-3900

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 PA3391001. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Lehigh County

All Pennsylvania utilities

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