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Lake Forest Water Coop

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
400 people
Connections
94
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Madison, WI
County
Dane
Owner
Private
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

53713

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 2 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 1997 to 2021.

Nitrate: Wisconsin’s own results, samples taken from July 30, 2021 to July 30, 2021.

Fluoride, arsenic and chromium (total): EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from May 14, 2018 to May 14, 2018. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

5.6ppb

90th percentile, 2021

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

Below EPA’s limits2

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.17ppm

Highest sample; found in 2 of 2

2021 average: 0.16 ppm

The highest sample, in 2021, was 0.17 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That is the only year on file, and its two samples averaged 0.16 ppm.

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

0.058ppm

Highest yearly average, 2018

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.058 ppm, in 2018, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.12 ppm. That is the only year on file.

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.”

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

Very hard, typically 290 mg/L (16.9 grains per gallon), across 2 sampling points, in 2018.

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

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Revised Total Coliform RuleColiform results required a check of the system, and the check or its fixes were not done on time.EPA: Treatment Technique, Level 1 Assessment (RTCR)Nov. 17, 2024—Resolved
Lead and Copper Rule RevisionsThe required inventory of lead service lines was not completed or submitted on time.EPA: LSL InventoryOct. 17, 2024—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 50 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Nitrate results here are Wisconsin’s own from 2021 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Fluoride, arsenic and chromium (total) come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Lake Forest Water Coop’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 July 30, 2021 to July 30, 2021; EPA’s compliance samples are from May 14, 2018 to May 14, 2018.

Testing your own tap

Lake Forest Water Coop’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 Lake Forest Water Coop serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene

    Madison, WI · about 2 miles

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

    (608) 224-6260

  • Public Health Madison & Dane County

    Madison, WI · about 3 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (608) 243-0357

  • Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection

    Madison, WI · about 7 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (608) 224-4821

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 WI1130232. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Dane County

All Wisconsin utilities

What to do next