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Sterling Town Water System

What EPA’s and Utah’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
300 people
Connections
147
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Sterling, UT
County
Sanpete
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

84665

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 2 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 1997 to 2013.

Nitrate, fluoride, arsenic and chromium (total): Utah’s own results, samples taken from May 20, 2020 to Aug. 12, 2024, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Sept. 23, 2014 to Oct. 23, 2017. 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

8.5ppb

90th percentile, 2011 to 2013

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 8.5 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

19ppb

Highest yearly average, 2014 to 2017

2017, one sample: 18.5 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 19 ppb, in 2014, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2017, the latest year on file, its one sample was 18.5 ppb.

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

0.9ppm

Highest sample; found in 6 of 6

2024, one sample: 0.45 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 0.9 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2024, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.45 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.6 ppm, in 2014.

What handles it

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

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.2ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.2 ppm, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.2 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

2.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2014 to 2017

2017: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.6 ppb, in 2014, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2017, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample.

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.
  • 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

Hardness

Very hard, 261 mg/L (15.3 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, in 2020.

Hardness is calcium and magnesium. EPA sets no limit for it: it shows up as scale on fixtures and in water heaters, and as soap that won’t lather. USGS calls water above 60 mg/L moderately hard, above 120 hard and above 180 very hard.

Softeners compared at 15.3 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Utah water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Groundwater RuleA significant problem found in a state inspection was not fixed on time.EPA: Failure To Address DeficiencyJuly 1, 2023—Resolved
Groundwater RuleA significant problem found in a state inspection was not fixed on time.EPA: Failure To Address DeficiencyFeb. 11, 2017—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 12 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Nitrate, fluoride, arsenic and chromium (total) results here are Utah’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Sterling Town Water System’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; Utah’s results run from May 20, 2020 to Aug. 12, 2024; EPA’s compliance samples are from Sept. 23, 2014 to Oct. 23, 2017.

Testing your own tap

Sterling Town 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 Utah certifies.

The 3 labs Utah certifies closest to the area Sterling Town Water System serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Central Utah Public Health Laboratory

    Richfield, UT · about 37 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (435) 896-5451

  • SE Utah District Health Department Laboratory

    Price, UT · about 54 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (435) 637-3671

  • Provo Water Resources Laboratory

    Provo, UT · about 70 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (801) 852-6796

All 60 certified labs for Utah

Sources

PWSID UTAH20009. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Sanpete County

All Utah utilities

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