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Cowan B.P.U.

What EPA’s and CDC’s records show in this utility’s water: nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
2,550 people
Connections
1,054
Water source
Groundwater influenced by surface water
Based in
Cowan, TN
County
Franklin
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

37318

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2010 to 2025.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.6 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 2004. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate and haloacetic acids (HAA5): Tennessee’s yearly averages per water system, as CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network publishes them, 2020 to 2022, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Fluoride, arsenic and chromium (total): EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from April 20, 2015 to April 18, 2018. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

1.0ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.0 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 limits4

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

33.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

Averaged by year, the highest was 33.6 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 32.5 ppb, in 2016.

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

3.1ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2021

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.1 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 2.8 ppm, in 2019.

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

18.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

Averaged by year, the highest was 18.5 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 19.9 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.22ppm

Highest yearly average, 2015 to 2018

2018, one sample: 0.17 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.22 ppm, in 2015, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2018, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.17 ppm.

What handles it

2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)

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.”

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

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There is 1 monitoring or reporting violation: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are Tennessee’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Fluoride, arsenic and chromium (total) come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Cowan B.P.U.’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has newer results for those and 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; CDC’s yearly averages for Tennessee cover 2020 to 2022; EPA’s compliance samples are from April 20, 2015 to April 18, 2018.

Testing your own tap

Cowan B.P.U.’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 Tennessee certifies.

The 3 labs Tennessee certifies closest to the area Cowan B.P.U. serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • AIRL, Inc.

    Cleveland, TN · about 63 miles

    Certified for bacteria, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (423) 476-7766

  • Tennessee Tech University Water Center

    Cookeville, TN · about 74 miles

    Certified for bacteria, metals, minerals and other inorganics, disinfection byproducts

    (931) 372-3538

  • Pace Analytical National Center for Testing&Evaluation

    Mount Juliet, TN · about 74 miles

    Certified for bacteria, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, radioactivity

    (615) 758-5858

Tennessee Department of Health: Water quality testing for eligible private wells and springs, through the program formerly called SafeWATCH. Contact the department's Waterborne Disease Team to ask about eligibility. Free for eligible wells and springs. Waterborne Diseases, Tennessee Department of Health.

All 37 certified labs for Tennessee

Sources

PWSID TN0000146. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Nearby

All Tennessee utilities

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