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Mountain Water Authority

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
495 people
Connections
175
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Tremont, PA
County
Schuylkill
Owner
Local government
The 2 ZIP codes it serves

17963, 17981

The short answer

2 results are above EPA’s legal limit, and 2 more are above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the action level. 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. 7, 2024 to May 7, 2025.

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 1993 to 2013.

Nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and uranium: Pennsylvania’s own results, samples taken from Dec. 2, 2020 to June 3, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

PFAS: PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS and PFBS were found, of the six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 drinking water rule; their results are below.

EPA’s 2024 PFAS rule, compound by compound

PFASEPA’s limitResult
PFOA4.0 pptAbove the health goal0.94 ppt highest, found in 3 of 6 samples. Details
PFOS4.0 pptAbove the health goal0.79 ppt highest, found in 3 of 6 samples. Details
PFHxS10 pptBelow EPA’s limits0.51 ppt highest, found in 2 of 4 samples. Details
PFNA10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 4 samples
HFPO-DA (GenX)10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 4 samples
PFBSIndex onlyBelow EPA’s limits1.1 ppt highest, found in 3 of 4 samples. Details
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 legal limit2

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the action level

32.9ppb

90th percentile, 2013

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 32.9 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

Copper

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the action level

1.4ppm

90th percentile, 2025

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

Above the health goal2

PFOA

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.94ppt

Highest sample, May 7, 2025; found in 3 of 6

2025 average: 0.89 ppt

The highest sample was 0.94 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 0.66 ppt, for the year to June 30, 2025: below Pennsylvania’s limit of 14 ppt and below EPA’s new limit of 4.0 ppt. In 2025, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.89 ppt.

What handles it

PFOS

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.79ppt

Highest sample, May 7, 2025; found in 3 of 6

2025 average: 0.75 ppt

The highest sample was 0.79 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 0.55 ppt, for the year to June 30, 2025: below Pennsylvania’s limit of 18 ppt and below EPA’s new limit of 4.0 ppt. In 2025, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.75 ppt.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits3

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.53ppm

Highest sample; found in 5 of 7

2026, one sample: 0.53 ppm

The highest sample, in 2023, was 0.53 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.53 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.59 ppm, in 2016.

What handles it

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

PFHxS

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.51ppt

Highest sample, Nov. 6, 2024; found in 2 of 4

2025 average: 0.18 ppt

The highest sample was 0.51 ppt, below EPA’s new limit of 10 ppt, which takes effect in 2029. Averaged over four quarters at one entry point, the way EPA’s limit is judged, the highest was 0.22 ppt, for the year to June 30, 2025: below EPA’s new limit of 10 ppt. In 2025, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.18 ppt.

What handles it

PFBS

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

1.1ppt

Highest sample, Nov. 6, 2024; found in 3 of 4

2025 average: 0.77 ppt

The highest sample was 1.1 ppt, below EPA’s hazard index benchmark of 2,000 ppt. PFBS has no legal limit or health goal of its own. In 2025, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.77 ppt.

What handles it

8 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
  • Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
  • Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)
  • Uranium

PFAS, from Pennsylvania’s own monitoring

  • HFPO-DA (GenX)
  • PFNA

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: Lead Reduction, Copper Reduction, PFOA Reduction, PFOS Reduction

    For: Lead, Copper, PFOA, PFOS

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Lead Reduction, Copper Reduction, Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA), Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS)

    For: Lead, Copper, PFOA, PFOS

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

The best water filters for PFAS, ranked

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 7 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and uranium results here are Pennsylvania’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Mountain Water Authority’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 Dec. 2, 2020 to June 3, 2026; Pennsylvania’s PFAS results run from Feb. 7, 2024 to May 7, 2025.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Eurofins Drinking Water and Wastewater Northeast, LLC

    Pottsville, PA · about 8 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (570) 662-7315

  • Pure-Test Laboratory

    Myerstown, PA · about 15 miles

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

    (717) 866-2234

  • Microbac Laboratories, Inc. - Harrisburg

    Harrisburg, PA · about 25 miles

    (570) 348-0775

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 PA3540026. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Schuylkill County

All Pennsylvania utilities

What to do next