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Melrose 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
524 people
Connections
240
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Melrose, WI
County
Jackson
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Varies by source
The ZIP code it serves

54642

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

Arsenic, haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, nitrate and chromium (total): Wisconsin’s own results, samples taken from March 1, 2020 to July 21, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Uranium: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Feb. 12, 2017 to Feb. 12, 2017. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal2

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 0.75 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.0 ppb, in 2023: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 2.0 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.75 ppb.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.01ppb

Highest yearly average, 2017

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.01 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 limits4

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

12.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 1.6 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 12.1 ppb, in 2024, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 1.6 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 7.2 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

14.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 4.8 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 14.8 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 4.8 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 10 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

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

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.4ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 0.29 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.4 ppm, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.43 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.29 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.33 ppm, in 2017.

What handles it

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.82ppm

Highest sample; found in 5 of 12

2025 average: 0.006 ppm

The highest sample, in 2022, was 0.82 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.006 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.13 ppm, in 2016.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Chromium (total)
  • Lead

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

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Uranium

    For: Arsenic, Uranium

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

At the tap, or for the whole house?

These come with the water itself, so a whole-house system certified for the same claims treats every tap and shower. A filter at the tap treats drinking water for much less. 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

Hardness

Moderately hard to hard depending on the source, 113 to 149 mg/L (6.6 to 8.7 grains per gallon), across 2 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, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Wisconsin water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Revised Total Coliform RuleE. coli was confirmed in the water system.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, E. coli (RTCR)Aug. 1, 2018 to Aug. 31, 2018—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 2 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, nitrate 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. Melrose 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 1, 2020 to July 21, 2026; EPA’s compliance samples are from Feb. 12, 2017 to Feb. 12, 2017.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Jackson County Public Health Water Lab

    Black River Falls, WI · about 14 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (715) 284-4301

  • Monroe County Health Department

    Sparta, WI · about 16 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (608) 269-8666

  • A1 Advanced Pumping Service, Inc.

    West Salem, WI · about 17 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (608) 784-1888

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 WI6270293. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Jackson County

All Wisconsin utilities

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