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Is Columbia, PA tap water safe?

3 utilities serve Columbia, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and Pennsylvania’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

2 of the 3 utilities serving Columbia have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Pennsylvania’s records: Columbia Water Co and Schoolhouse Apts.

Columbia Water Co, which serves the most people here, has 3 results above the health goal. The worst: PFOS at 2.4 ppt, 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 Columbia’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 Columbia Water Co’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

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Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Columbia

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 Pennsylvania certifies.

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

  • Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories Environment Testing, LLC

    Lancaster, PA · about 9 miles

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

    (717) 656-2300

  • Owl Hill Laboratories LLC

    Lititz, PA · about 14 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (717) 627-2520

  • Waypoint Analytical - PA Inc.

    Leola, PA · about 16 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (717) 656-9326

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

ZIP codes in Columbia

Which ZIP codes are in Columbia: 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: Pennsylvania DEP Laboratory Accreditation Program, accredited labs for drinking water; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Columbia

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

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