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Ulysses Municipal 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
640 people
Connections
225
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Ulysses, PA
County
Potter
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

16948

The short answer

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

What handles it

What was found

PFAS: Pennsylvania’s own results under its PFAS rule, entry point samples taken from March 13, 2024 to May 12, 2026.

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 1993 to 2020.

Nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride and uranium: Pennsylvania’s own results, samples taken from Sept. 14, 2020 to Aug. 11, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

PFAS: None of the six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 drinking water rule was found in this utility’s samples. None of the other 12 PFAS tested for was found either.

EPA’s 2024 PFAS rule, compound by compound

PFASEPA’s limitResult
PFOA4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 8 samples
PFOS4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 8 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.

Above the legal limit1

Copper

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the action level

5.4ppm

90th percentile, 2020

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 5.4 ppm, above EPA’s action level of 1.3 ppm.

What handles it

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

7.0ppb

90th percentile, 1993

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 7.0 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 limits3

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

7.7ppm

Highest sample; found in 21 of 21

2026 average: 5.3 ppm

The highest sample, in 2023, was 7.7 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 5.3 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 5.3 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

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

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

25.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025, one sample: 1.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 25.7 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 1.2 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 11.2 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

8.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 8.5 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2025, 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 foundIncluding all six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 rule. Below 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

  • 11Cl-PF3OUdS
  • 9Cl-PF3ONS
  • ADONA
  • HFPO-DA (GenX)
  • NEtFOSAA
  • NMeFOSAA
  • PFBS
  • PFDA
  • PFDoA
  • PFHpA
  • PFHxA
  • PFHxS
  • PFNA
  • PFOA
  • 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: Copper Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Copper, Lead

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Copper Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Copper, 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
Lead and Copper RuleOCCT/SOWT Treatment Installation/DemonstrationNov. 5, 2024—Resolved
Groundwater RuleRequired treatment for surface water or groundwater was not met.EPA: Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR)Oct. 1, 2017 to Oct. 31, 2017—Resolved
Groundwater RuleRequired treatment for surface water or groundwater was not met.EPA: Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR)July 1, 2017 to July 31, 2017—Resolved
Groundwater RuleRequired treatment for surface water or groundwater was not met.EPA: Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR)June 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. 53 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), 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. Ulysses Municipal 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 Sept. 14, 2020 to Aug. 11, 2026; Pennsylvania’s PFAS results run from March 13, 2024 to May 12, 2026.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Cattaraugus County Department of Health Laboratory

    Olean, NY · about 37 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (716) 701-3434

  • Pace Analytical Services LLC - Williamsport, PA

    Williamsport, PA · about 58 miles

    (570) 326-4001

  • White Oak Laboratory LLC

    Ridgway, PA · about 62 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (814) 772-5927

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 PA6530006. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Potter County

All Pennsylvania utilities

What to do next