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Watertown Water System

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
1,944 people
Connections
720
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Watertown, TN
County
Wilson
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

37184

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the health goal. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2009 to 2025.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 2.2 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 2007. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

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.

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, 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 limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

25.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

2022 average: 25.9 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 25.9 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2022, the latest year on file, it averaged 25.9 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 42.1 ppb, in 2014.

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

14.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

Averaged by year, the highest was 14.4 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 21.1 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.36ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

2022 average: 0.11 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.36 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2022, the latest year on file, it averaged 0.11 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.41 ppm, in 2017.

What handles it

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

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

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Stage 1 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts RuleTreatment was not run by a certified operator as required.EPA: Treatment Technique No Certif. OperatorNov. 1, 2019—Unaddressed
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 3 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

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. Watertown Water System’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; CDC’s yearly averages for Tennessee cover 2020 to 2022.

Testing your own tap

Watertown Water System’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 Watertown Water System serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Pace Analytical National Center for Testing&Evaluation

    Mount Juliet, TN · about 20 miles

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

    (615) 758-5858

  • Tennessee Tech University Water Center

    Cookeville, TN · about 36 miles

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

    (931) 372-3538

  • Logan-Todd Regional Water Commission

    Guthrie, KY · about 73 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (270) 483-6990

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 TN0000732. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Wilson County

All Tennessee utilities

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