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Portland Fair Estates

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
130 people
Connections
52
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Friday Harbor, WA
County
San Juan
Owner
Private
Hardness
Moderately hard
The ZIP code it serves

98250

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), above the legal limit. 9 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

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

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, chromium (total), arsenic and nitrate: Washington’s own results, samples taken from Sept. 16, 2020 to Aug. 17, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the legal limit1

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the legal limit

101ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 88.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 101 ppb, in 2025, above EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 133 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 88.3 ppb, above the limit. EPA recorded violations for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 31.5 ppb, in 2017.

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

0.9ppb

90th percentile, 2024 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 0.9 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

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

37.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 37.5 ppb, in 2026, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 54.3 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.1 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.22ppm

Highest yearly average, 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.22 ppm, in 2024, 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 0.16 ppm, in 2015.

What handles it

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

1.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2024

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.2 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.0 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • 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.”

  • 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

Hardness

Moderately hard, 113 mg/L (6.6 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, in 2024.

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

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2026 to June 30, 202683.2 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2026 to March 31, 202685.2 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2025 to Dec. 31, 2025107 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2025 to Sept. 30, 2025110 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2025 to June 30, 2025108 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2025 to March 31, 2025106 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2024 to Dec. 31, 202496.3 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 202495.1 UG/LArchived
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2024 to June 30, 202499.5 UG/LArchived
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 7 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, chromium (total), arsenic and nitrate results here are Washington’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Portland Fair Estates’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 Sept. 16, 2020 to Aug. 17, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Portland Fair Estates’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 Portland Fair Estates serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Exact Scientific Services, Inc.

    Ferndale, WA · about 30 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts

    (360) 733-1205

  • Eurofins DW and WW West, Washington Laboratory

    Burlington, WA · about 35 miles

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

    (360) 757-1400

  • Clallam County Environmental Laboratory

    Port Angeles, WA · about 46 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (360) 417-2334

All 84 certified labs for Washington

Sources

PWSID WA5369008. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in San Juan County

All Washington utilities

What to do next