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Fairchild 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
451 people
Connections
217
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Fairchild, WI
County
Eau Claire
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Soft
The ZIP code it serves

54741

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, and 2 more are above the health goal. The worst: Nitrate, above the legal limit. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2011 to 2023.

Nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, arsenic and chromium (total): Wisconsin’s own results, samples taken from March 10, 2020 to Aug. 18, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Uranium: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from May 2, 2017 to May 2, 2017. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the legal limit1

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Above the legal limit

13ppm

Highest sample; found in 15 of 21

2026: not found

One sample, in 2023, was above EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm, at 13 ppm. The next sample at the same point, within 30 days, kept the average above the limit. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample. EPA recorded a violation for nitrate at this utility in 2023. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 7.4 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”

Above the health goal2

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

5.6ppb

90th percentile, 2023

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 5.6 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

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.03ppb

Highest yearly average, 2017

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.03 ppb, in 2017: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. That is the only year on file.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

58.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 15.7 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 58.4 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 15.7 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 16.7 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

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

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

31.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 6.8 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 31.1 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 6.8 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 8.9 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.12ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 0.08 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.12 ppm, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.16 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.08 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.09 ppm, in 2017.

What handles it

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

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: Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge), Lead Reduction

    For: Nitrate, Lead

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction, Lead Reduction, Uranium

    For: Nitrate, Lead, Uranium

    Other certifiers’ wording: Nitrate

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

Soft, typically 32 mg/L (1.8 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 1.8 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Wisconsin water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
NitrateThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2023 to March 31, 202310.8 MG/LArchived
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, arsenic and chromium (total) results here are Wisconsin’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Uranium comes from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Fairchild Waterworks’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; Wisconsin’s results run from March 10, 2020 to Aug. 18, 2026; EPA’s compliance samples are from May 2, 2017 to May 2, 2017.

Testing your own tap

Fairchild 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 Fairchild Waterworks serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Clark County Health Department

    Neillsville, WI · about 18 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (715) 743-5105

  • Jackson County Public Health Water Lab

    Black River Falls, WI · about 26 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (715) 284-4301

  • Chippewa County Department of Public Health

    Chippewa Falls, WI · about 31 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (715) 726-7900

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 WI6180295. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Eau Claire County

All Wisconsin utilities

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