Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Care Free Acres

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
30 people
Connections
22
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Coupeville, WA
County
Island
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

98282

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2005 to 2025.

Arsenic, nitrate and total trihalomethanes (TTHM): Washington’s own results, samples taken from Oct. 12, 2020 to Aug. 18, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Chromium (total) and fluoride: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Aug. 28, 2019 to Aug. 28, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal2

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

9.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 9.3 ppb, in 2024: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 9.5 ppb. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 10 ppb, in 2019.

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

12.7ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 12.7 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027, and this result is at or above that. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Chromium (total)
  • Fluoride
  • Nitrate
  • Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

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

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 4 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, nitrate and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) results here are Washington’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Chromium (total) and fluoride come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Care Free Acres’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; Washington’s results run from Oct. 12, 2020 to Aug. 18, 2026; EPA’s compliance samples are from Aug. 28, 2019 to Aug. 28, 2019.

Testing your own tap

Care Free Acres’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.

The 3 labs Washington certifies closest to the area Care Free Acres serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Precision Analytical Laboratories, LLC

    Everett, WA · about 20 miles

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

    (425) 740-4597

  • Eurofins DW and WW West, Washington Laboratory

    Burlington, WA · about 21 miles

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

    (360) 757-1400

  • Everett Environmental Laboratory

    Everett, WA · about 22 miles

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

    (425) 257-8230

All 84 certified labs for Washington

Sources

PWSID WA5311135. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Island County

All Washington utilities

What to do next