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JEA - Mercer Plant

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
168 people
Connections
65
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Mercer, TN
County
Madison
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

38392

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

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2004 to 2025.

Arsenic, nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM) 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.

Chromium (total) and fluoride: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Feb. 8, 2017 to Feb. 8, 2017. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal2

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.5 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

0.7ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 0.7 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

3.4ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

2022 average: 2.7 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.4 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2022, the latest year on file, it averaged 2.7 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 3.8 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

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

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

22.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

2022 average: 6.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 22.3 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2022, the latest year on file, it averaged 6.3 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 21.9 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

5.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

2022 average: 1.0 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 5.0 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2022, the latest year on file, it averaged 1.0 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 8.5 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

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

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

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, nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM) 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. Chromium (total) and fluoride come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. JEA - Mercer Plant’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 Feb. 8, 2017 to Feb. 8, 2017.

Testing your own tap

JEA - Mercer Plant’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 2 labs Tennessee certifies closest to the area JEA - Mercer Plant serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Eurofins Jackson (former Waypoint LLC)

    Jackson, TN · about 23 miles

    Certified for bacteria, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (731) 423-5330

  • Eurofins Memphis (former Waypoint LLC)

    Memphis, TN · about 45 miles

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

    (901) 213-2400

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 TN0000453. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Nearby

All Tennessee utilities

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