Community Water System · PWSID MO4021532

Cape Girardeau County Pwsd 5

Serves 485 peopleGroundwaterOwner: Local GovernmentCape Girardeau, Missouri
Nothing open right now.

On record since 2012: 9 violations. 7 over the limit · 1 missed or late test · 1 notice or report. Most recent began 2015-03-23.

For this year's test results, ask the utility for its annual Consumer Confidence Report. Every community system must publish one.

7Over the limit
0Treatment lapse
1Missed or late test
1Notice or report

More violations on record than 70% of active water systems in Missouri. Small systems with no staff chemist often rack up missed-test violations; big utilities rarely do.

The record, year by year

200520102012 · Over the limit: 22012 · Over the limit: 22013 · Over the limit: 22013 · Over the limit: 22013 · Missed or late test: 12014 · Over the limit: 22014 · Over the limit: 22015 · Over the limit: 12015 · Notice or report: 1201520202025
One square = one violation, by the year it began. Empty columns are years with nothing on EPA's record.
78% over the limit · 711% missed or late test · 111% notice or report · 1

Across Missouri, 54% of violations are missed or late tests and 8% are water over a limit.

How far over the limit

at the limit2×5×10×100×+Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and U2015-01-01 · Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and U: measured 15.75 PCI/L vs limit 15.00 PCI/L (1.1×)2014-10-01 · Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and U: measured 15.93 PCI/L vs limit 15.00 PCI/L (1.1×)2014-07-01 · Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and U: measured 15.55 PCI/L vs limit 15.00 PCI/L (1.0×)2013-04-01 · Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and U: measured 16.90 PCI/L vs limit 15.00 PCI/L (1.1×)2013-01-01 · Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and U: measured 16.58 PCI/L vs limit 15.00 PCI/L (1.1×)2012-10-01 · Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and U: measured 20.77 PCI/L vs limit 15.00 PCI/L (1.4×)2012-07-01 · Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and U: measured 18.38 PCI/L vs limit 15.00 PCI/L (1.2×)
Each dot is one over-the-limit violation: the measured value divided by the limit it broke, on a log scale. Most legal limits for chemicals are running averages set for a lifetime of drinking, so “just over” and “ten times over” are very different news. Hover a dot for the numbers.

Lead & copper at the tap

Utilities sample taps in homes most likely to have lead pipes, and report the 90th-percentile result: 9 in 10 homes sampled came in at or below this number. Above the red line (the action level) the utility must act. The action level is not a safe level; EPA's health goal for lead is zero. EPA's file does not date these results, so they are shown highest first.

Lead, 90th percentile 8 results on file · action level 15 ppb

17.5 ppb
11.1 ppb
6.7 ppb
3.7 ppb
3.7 ppb
2.2 ppb
2.1 ppb
0.93 ppb

Every violation on record

  1. 2015-03-23Public NoticePN Violation for NPDWR ViolationBack in compliance
  2. 2015-01-01Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and UMCL, Averagemeasured 15.75 PCI/L · limit 15.00 PCI/LBack in compliance
  3. 2014-10-01Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and UMCL, Averagemeasured 15.93 PCI/L · limit 15.00 PCI/LBack in compliance
  4. 2014-07-01Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and UMCL, Averagemeasured 15.55 PCI/L · limit 15.00 PCI/LBack in compliance
  5. 2013-04-01Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and UMCL, Averagemeasured 16.90 PCI/L · limit 15.00 PCI/LBack in compliance
  6. 2013-01-01Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and UMCL, Averagemeasured 16.58 PCI/L · limit 15.00 PCI/LBack in compliance
  7. 2013-01-01Lead and Copper RuleInitial Tap Sampling for Pb and CuBack in compliance
  8. 2012-10-01Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and UMCL, Averagemeasured 20.77 PCI/L · limit 15.00 PCI/LBack in compliance
  9. 2012-07-01Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and UMCL, Averagemeasured 18.38 PCI/L · limit 15.00 PCI/LBack in compliance

System details

Population served485
Service connections213
Water sourceGroundwater
System typeCommunity Water System
OwnerLocal Government
StatusActive
CityCape Girardeau
EPA ZIP on file63701-0000

Areas served

  • Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau County

Reading this record

Cape Girardeau County Pwsd 5 is a community water system that draws from groundwater and serves about 485 people in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Everything above comes from the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), where states report every violation by every public water system.

Four kinds of violation. Only one is a measurement of the water: over the limit means a test came back above a legal maximum (an MCL). A treatment lapse means a required protective step was not done, such as disinfection, filtration, fixing a defect an inspector found, or filing a lead-pipe inventory. A missed or late test means a required test was skipped or never reported. That is the most common kind, and the most misread: it does not mean the water was bad, and it does not mean the water was fine. Notices and reports covers public notices and the annual Consumer Confidence Report.

Status. “Back in compliance” means the state recorded a return to compliance. “Period ended” means the violation's compliance period is over but no return to compliance was ever filed, which is common in older records. EPA's federal copy lags state records by months, so call the utility for anything current.