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Cumberland Plateau Water Authority #1

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

Serves
23,252 people
Connections
10,334
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Crossville, TN
County
Cumberland
Owner
Local government
The 5 ZIP codes it serves

37723, 37854, 38555, 38558, 38571

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

PFAS and lithium: EPA UCMR 5, samples taken from March 11, 2025 to Dec. 10, 2025.

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2007 to 2028.

Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and nitrate: 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.

PFAS: None of the six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 drinking water rule was found in this utility’s samples. None of the other 23 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 4 samples, below 4 ppt
PFOS4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 4 ppt
PFHxS10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 3 ppt
PFNA10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 4 ppt
HFPO-DA (GenX)10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 5 ppt
PFBSIndex onlyNot foundNot found in any of 4 samples, below 3 ppt
Hazard IndexPFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS together1Doesn’t applyDoesn’t apply: no sampling location found two or more of the four
Results from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling. “Below” is the lab’s reporting level: a result under it reads as not found, which is not the same as zero. 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. PFBS has no limit of its own and counts only toward the Hazard Index, which adds up the four, each against EPA’s health-based level, from each sampling location’s average, as EPA’s UCMR 5 summary does. It counts only where two or more of the four were found, and is above the limit from 1.5.

Above the health goal2

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.0 ppb, in 2020: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. That is the only year on file.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

1.0ppb

90th percentile, 2026 to 2028

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 limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

39.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

2022 average: 26.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 39.7 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2022, the latest year on file, it averaged 26.4 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 34 ppb, in 2016.

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

25.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

2022 average: 16.4 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 25.4 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2022, the latest year on file, it averaged 16.4 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 28.1 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.1ppm

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2022

2022 average: 0.1 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.1 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2022, the latest year on file, it averaged 0.1 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.12 ppm, in 2017.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
Tennessee utilities above EPA’s PFAS limits
30 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.
  • 11Cl-PF3OUdS
  • 4:2 FTS
  • 6:2 FTS
  • 8:2 FTS
  • 9Cl-PF3ONS
  • ADONA
  • HFPO-DA (GenX)
  • Lithium
  • NEtFOSAA
  • NFDHA
  • NMeFOSAA
  • PFBA
  • PFBS
  • PFDA
  • PFDoA
  • PFEESA
  • PFHpA
  • PFHpS
  • PFHxA
  • PFHxS
  • PFMBA
  • PFMPA
  • PFNA
  • PFOA
  • PFOS
  • PFPeA
  • PFPeS
  • 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: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Arsenic, Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Arsenic, Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

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 reverse osmosis systems, ranked

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Disinfectant

Cumberland Plateau Water Authority #1 reported disinfecting with chlorine, not chloramine, at its one sampling point, in its 2025 sampling for EPA. It also reported chlorine dioxide.

Chlorine leaves water that sits out for a few days, CDC says. A filter certified for it carries a chlorine claim under NSF/ANSI 42; a shower filter, a free chlorine claim under NSF/ANSI 177. This is what the utility reported for that sampling. Its annual water quality report says what it uses now.

Chlorine vs. chloramineShower filters, by what their listings cover

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. Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5) and nitrate results here are Tennessee’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Cumberland Plateau Water Authority #1’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 samples are from March 11, 2025 to Dec. 10, 2025; CDC’s yearly averages for Tennessee cover 2020 to 2022.

Testing your own tap

Cumberland Plateau Water Authority #1’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 Cumberland Plateau Water Authority #1 serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Assured Bio Labs, LLC

    Oak Ridge, TN · about 33 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (865) 813-1700

  • DOE Y-12 CNS National Security Complex

    Oak Ridge, TN · about 33 miles

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

    (865) 576-3099

  • Eberline Analytical Oak Ridge

    Oak Ridge, TN · about 33 miles

    Certified for radioactivity

    (865) 481-0683

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 TN0000147. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Cumberland County

All Tennessee utilities

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