Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Wythe County West

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
1,001 people
Connections
680
Water source
Surface water bought from another system
Based in
Wytheville, VA
County
Wythe
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

24374

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, 1 more is above the limit’s level with no violation recorded, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Haloacetic acids (HAA5), above the legal limit. 4 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2012 to 2023.

Arsenic: Virginia’s yearly averages per water system, as CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network publishes them, 2022.

Haloacetic acids (HAA5): EPA’s violation records from 2020 on, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, chromium (total) and fluoride: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Oct. 18, 2012 to Oct. 17, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the legal limit1

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the legal limit

65ppb

Limit violation, 2022

EPA recorded three violations of the legal limit for haloacetic acids (HAA5) at this utility in 2022 and 2025. The highest measured level, for April 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022, was an average of 65 ppb, above EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 54.6 ppb, in 2017, and EPA recorded a violation in 2017.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Above the limit’s level, no violation recorded1

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the limit’s level, no violation

86ppb

Highest yearly average, 2012 to 2019

2019 average: 44.1 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 86 ppb, in 2012, above EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 114 ppb. In 2019, the latest year on file, its eight samples averaged 44.1 ppb. EPA judges this limit on running averages at each sampling point, and recorded no violation for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility from 2012 to 2019. Results like these with no violation often include water sampled before treatment or blending; the utility’s annual report says what reaches the tap.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

9.0ppb

90th percentile, 2021 to 2023

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 9.0 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 limits1

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.49ppm

Highest sample; found in 6 of 6

2019, one sample: 0.49 ppm

The highest sample, in 2019, was 0.49 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That was also the latest year on file, and its one sample was 0.49 ppm.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • 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: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: VOC Reduction

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), 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
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2025 to Sept. 30, 202563 UG/LResolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2022 to June 30, 202265 UG/LResolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2022 to March 31, 202262 UG/LResolved
Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2017 to June 30, 20170.062 MG/LResolved
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 results here are Virginia’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2022 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, chromium (total) and fluoride come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Wythe County West’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 Virginia cover 2022; EPA’s compliance samples are from Oct. 18, 2012 to Oct. 17, 2019.

Testing your own tap

Wythe County West’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 Virginia certifies.

The 3 labs Virginia certifies closest to the area Wythe County West serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • VDACS RAHL Wytheville

    Wytheville, VA · about 14 miles

    Certified for bacteria

  • Blue Ridge Analytical LLC

    Wytheville, VA · about 14 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (276) 228-6464

  • Southwest Soils and Water Testing

    Hillsville, VA · about 29 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (276) 733-5682

Virginia Household Water Quality Program, Virginia Cooperative Extension: Drinking water clinics in about 70 counties a year, run through local Extension offices: pick up a kit, collect the sample on the set day, and drop it off locally. Each kit tests well, spring or cistern water for 28 things, including bacteria, nitrate, lead and arsenic. $70 a kit, with funding to help if you need it. Virginia Household Water Quality Program.

All 145 certified labs for Virginia

Sources

PWSID VA1197880. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Wythe County

All Virginia utilities

What to do next