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Salem Elm Ridge WSC

What EPA’s and Texas’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
1,371 people
Connections
457
Water source
Surface water bought from another system
Based in
Cameron, TX
County
Milam
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

76520

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 3 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 1994 to 2024.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate and haloacetic acids (HAA5): Texas’s own results, samples taken from Feb. 11, 2020 to Aug. 25, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

3.9ppb

90th percentile, 2022 to 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 3.9 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

63.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 44.6 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 63.2 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 154 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 44.6 ppb. EPA recorded no violation for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility since 2020. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 121 ppb, in 2012, and EPA recorded violations in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

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

5.9ppm

Highest sample; found in 33 of 34

2026 average: 2.9 ppm

The highest sample, in 2024, was 5.9 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its four samples averaged 2.9 ppm.

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

25.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 12.8 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 25.5 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 52.7 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 12.8 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 30.2 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

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

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Lead and Copper Rule RevisionsThe required inventory of lead service lines was not completed or submitted on time.EPA: LSL InventoryOct. 17, 2024—Resolved
Revised Total Coliform RuleE. coli was confirmed in the water system.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, E. coli (RTCR)Nov. 1, 2016 to Nov. 30, 2016—Resolved
Revised Total Coliform RuleColiform results required a check of the system, and the check or its fixes were not done on time.EPA: Treatment Technique, Level 1 Assessment (RTCR)Sept. 3, 2016—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 8 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are Texas’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Salem Elm Ridge WSC’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; Texas’s results run from Feb. 11, 2020 to Aug. 25, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Salem Elm Ridge WSC’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 Texas certifies.

The 3 labs Texas certifies closest to the area Salem Elm Ridge WSC serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Aqua-Tech Laboratories, Inc.

    Bryan, TX · about 29 miles

    Certified for bacteria, lead and copper

    (979) 778-3707

  • Integrity Testing, Inc.

    Austin, TX · about 61 miles

    Certified for lead and copper

    (512) 891-7777

  • Bio-Chem Lab, Inc.

    West, TX · about 62 miles

    Certified for bacteria, lead and copper

    (254) 829-8001

Texas Well Owner Network, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension: Well Informed screening events, where well owners bring in water samples to be screened for common contaminants, followed by an hour-long session explaining the results. Upcoming events are on the network's calendar. Trainings, Texas Well Owner Network.

All 80 certified labs for Texas

Sources

PWSID TX1660013. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Milam County

All Texas utilities

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