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Viola 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
667 people
Connections
381
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Viola, WI
County
Vernon
Owner
Local government
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

54664

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 2008 to 2023.

Haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, nitrate, arsenic and chromium (total): Wisconsin’s own results, samples taken from Sept. 15, 2020 to Sept. 16, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Uranium: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Sept. 6, 2017 to Sept. 6, 2017. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal2

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

1.2ppb

90th percentile, 2023

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.2 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

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.08ppb

Highest yearly average, 2017

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.08 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

8.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 5.5 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 8.4 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 5.5 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 4.4 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

8.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026, one sample: 1.5 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 8.9 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its one sample was 1.5 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 2.4 ppb, in 2016.

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

0.08ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 0.025 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.08 ppm, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.09 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.025 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.09 ppm, in 2017.

What handles it

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.016ppm

Highest sample; found in 3 of 14

2026 average: 0.002 ppm

The highest sample, in 2025, was 0.016 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.002 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.24 ppm, in 2015.

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.
  • 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 222 mg/L (13 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 at 13 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 6 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, nitrate, 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. Viola 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 Sept. 15, 2020 to Sept. 16, 2026; EPA’s compliance samples are from Sept. 6, 2017 to Sept. 6, 2017.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Vernon County Health Department

    Viroqua, WI · about 15 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (608) 637-5251

  • Leuther Laboratories LLC

    Coon Valley, WI · about 25 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (608) 788-8180

  • Pure Water Labs, LLC

    Reedsburg, WI · about 32 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (608) 225-3621

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 WI6630269. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Vernon County

All Wisconsin utilities

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