White Sand Springs
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
- 115 people
- Connections
- 45
- Water source
- Groundwater
- Based in
- Tafton, PA
- County
- Pike
- Owner
- Private
The ZIP code it serves
The short answer
Nothing in EPA’s and Pennsylvania’s records for this utility is above a health goal. That covers PFAS; nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; and lead and copper, not everything. 2 health-based violations since 2016.
What was found
PFAS: Pennsylvania’s own results under its PFAS rule, entry point samples taken from Jan. 23, 2025 to Oct. 8, 2025.
Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.4 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 2010. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.
Nitrate, fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total), haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and uranium: Pennsylvania’s own results, samples taken from May 11, 2020 to Oct. 8, 2025, 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
| PFAS | EPA’s limit | Result |
|---|---|---|
| PFOA | 4.0 ppt | Not foundNot found in any of 4 samples |
| PFOS | 4.0 ppt | Not foundNot found in any of 4 samples |
| PFHxS | 10 ppt | Not foundNot found in any of 4 samples |
| PFNA | 10 ppt | Not foundNot found in any of 4 samples |
| HFPO-DA (GenX) | 10 ppt | Not foundNot found in any of 4 samples |
| PFBS | Index only | Not foundNot found in any of 4 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. | ||
Below EPA’s limits2
Nitrate
Comes from the source
1.4ppm
Highest sample; found in 1 of 6
2025: not found
The highest sample, in 2021, was 1.4 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
- NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
Fluoride
Forms or is added in treatment
0.1ppm
Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2024
Averaged by year, the highest was 0.1 ppm, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.25 ppm, in 2015.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Fluoride Reduction”
- NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Fluoride”
23 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)
- Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
- Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)
- 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
Violations since 2016
| Contaminant or rule | Type | Period | Measured | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Groundwater Rule | Required treatment for surface water or groundwater was not met.EPA: Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR) | May 1, 2024 to May 31, 2024 | — | Resolved |
| Groundwater Rule | Required treatment for surface water or groundwater was not met.EPA: Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR) | Dec. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2020 | — | Resolved |
| Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 6 monitoring or reporting violations not shown. | ||||
What this report can’t tell you
Everything else. Nitrate, fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total), 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. White Sand Springs’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 May 11, 2020 to Oct. 8, 2025; Pennsylvania’s PFAS results run from Jan. 23, 2025 to Oct. 8, 2025.
Testing your own tap
The 3 labs Pennsylvania certifies closest to the area White Sand Springs serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Princeton Analytical Labs
Dunmore, PA · about 24 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics
Microbac Laboratories, Inc. - Pittston
Pittston, PA · about 30 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts
AG Environmental RSC LLC
Ferndale, NY · about 32 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, radioactivity
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 PennsylvaniaSources
- EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data, file of Oct. 15, 2026
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Drinking Water Reporting System, PFAS results read Oct. 17, 2026
- EPA SDWA bulk download (SDWIS federal data), 2026 Q3
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Drinking Water Reporting System, results from Jan. 2, 2020 to Oct. 8, 2026, read Oct. 17, 2026
- EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, file of Feb. 5, 2024
- Certified labs: Pennsylvania DEP Laboratory Accreditation Program, accredited labs for drinking water, read Oct. 11, 2026; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer
- Limits and goals: each contaminant’s page, with its EPA source.
- How this page is built: methodology.
PWSID PA2520207. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.
What to do next
- Nothing here is above a health goalIn EPA’s and Pennsylvania’s records for this utility. They don’t cover everything, which is why the next step matters.Every contaminant TapBuff tracks
- Get the utility’s own reportWhite Sand Springs must send you a water quality report every year. It covers contaminants this page does not show.How to read it
- Test your own tap for leadYour service line, solder and fixtures decide the lead at your faucet, not the utility’s average.Lead in your water: what to do
- Decide if you want a filter at allA filter for taste or chlorine is a preference, not a need. The standards say what each kind can do.NSF/ANSI standards, decoded