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Buck Creek

What EPA’s and Washington’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
165 people
Connections
16
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Raymond, WA
County
Pierce
Owner
Private
Hardness
Soft

The short answer

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

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2023 to 2024.

Haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride and nitrate: Washington’s own results, samples taken from Dec. 11, 2022 to Sept. 22, 2025.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

1.5ppb

90th percentile, 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.5 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 limits2

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

33ppb

Highest yearly average, 2023 to 2025

Averaged by year, the highest was 33 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 34 ppb. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

34.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2023 to 2025

2025, one sample: 32.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 34.3 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, its one sample was 32.3 ppb.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Fluoride
  • Nitrate

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

Soft, 19 mg/L (1.1 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, 2023 to 2025.

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 1.1 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Washington water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Surface Water Treatment RuleRequired treatment for surface water or groundwater was not met.EPA: Treatment Technique (SWTR and GWR)Oct. 1, 2022—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 65 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), arsenic, chromium (total), fluoride and nitrate results here are Washington’s own from 2022 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Buck Creek’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; Washington’s results run from Dec. 11, 2022 to Sept. 22, 2025.

Testing your own tap

Buck Creek’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 Washington certifies.

No lab Washington certifies is within 75 miles of the area Buck Creek serves on the state’s list. Some take samples by mail; the state’s page lists them all.

All 84 certified labs for Washington

Sources

PWSID WA5308940. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Pierce County

All Washington utilities

What to do next