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Cambria Waterworks

What EPA’s and Wisconsin’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
767 people
Connections
335
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Cambria, WI
County
Columbia
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

53923

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Arsenic, above the health goal. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2002 to 2023.

Arsenic, nitrate, fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and chromium (total): Wisconsin’s own results, samples taken from March 11, 2020 to Sept. 9, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal2

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

4.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

Averaged by year, the highest was 4.9 ppb, in 2026: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 7.5 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 2.3 ppb, in 2014.

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

4.2ppb

90th percentile, 2023

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 4.2 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 limits5

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

4.7ppm

Highest sample; found in 2 of 3

2022, one sample: 4.7 ppm

The highest sample, in 2022, was 4.7 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That was also the latest year on file, and its one sample was 4.7 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 4.0 ppm, in 2018.

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

0.14ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 0.14 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.14 ppm, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.15 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.14 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.14 ppm, in 2017.

What handles it

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

1.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 0.46 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.7 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 2.0 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.46 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.79 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.72ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 0.51 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.72 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 1.0 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.51 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.92 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

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

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.29ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.29 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. Its highest single sample was 0.59 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its two samples.

What handles it

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

Hardness

Very hard, typically 290 mg/L (17 grains per gallon), across 3 sampling points, 2017 to 2026.

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 17 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Wisconsin water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Combined Radium (-226 and -228)The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2018 to June 30, 20185.6 PCI/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 1 monitoring or reporting violation not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, nitrate, fluoride, haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and chromium (total) results here are Wisconsin’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Cambria Waterworks’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; Wisconsin’s results run from March 11, 2020 to Sept. 9, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Cambria Waterworks’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 Wisconsin certifies.

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

  • SWD Labs, LLC

    Randolph, WI · about 6 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (920) 326-5193

  • Marquette Co. Health Dept. dba Rural Env. Health Alliance

    Montello, WI · about 18 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (608) 297-3135

  • CT Laboratories

    Baraboo, WI · about 30 miles

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

    (608) 356-2760

Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene: Well water test kits ordered by phone and shipped free; you pay to mail the sample back, and the lab bills you after testing. Tests run from bacteria alone to a homeowner package covering bacteria, nitrate, fluoride, metals, hardness, volatile organic compounds and atrazine. Bacteria is $35, nitrate $35, lead $38, and the homeowner package $450, as of July 1, 2026. Public Environmental and Water Testing Prices, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene.

All 156 certified labs for Wisconsin

Sources

PWSID WI1110041. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Columbia County

All Wisconsin utilities

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