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Vesper 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
512 people
Connections
250
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Vesper, WI
County
Wood
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

54489

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

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

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.7 ppm, for the period ending June 30, 1994. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, nitrate and chromium (total): Wisconsin’s own results, samples taken from Jan. 21, 2020 to May 27, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal2

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

1.1ppb

90th percentile, 2023

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.1 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

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.17ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.17 ppb, in 2020: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. In 2026, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample.

What handles it

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

Below EPA’s limits4

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

75.2ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

2024 average: 29.6 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 75.2 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 86.8 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, its eight samples averaged 29.6 ppb. EPA recorded no violation for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility since 2020. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 75.9 ppb, in 2018.

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

33.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2024

2024 average: 18.7 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 33.7 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 45 ppb. In 2024, the latest year on file, its eight samples averaged 18.7 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 38 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.66ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 0.14 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.66 ppm, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.86 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.14 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.61 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.32ppm

Highest sample; found in 1 of 4

2025: not found

The highest sample, in 2024, was 0.32 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
One compound tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • 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: Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Lead, Arsenic

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

  • NSF/ANSI 58

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

    For: Lead, Arsenic

    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 water filters for lead, ranked

The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Hardness

Very hard, 245 mg/L (14.3 grains per gallon), at its one sampling point, 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 14.3 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Wisconsin water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 3 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, nitrate and chromium (total) results here are Wisconsin’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Vesper 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 Jan. 21, 2020 to May 27, 2026.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Wood County Water Laboratory

    Wisconsin Rapids, WI · about 6 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (715) 421-8911

  • AgSource Laboratories

    Marshfield, WI · about 16 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (715) 898-1402

  • Badger Laboratories - Stevens Point

    Stevens Point, WI · about 18 miles

    Certified for bacteria, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts

    (800) 776-7196

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 WI7720134. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Wood County

All Wisconsin utilities

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