Community Water System · PWSID NY0501721

Owasco Water District

Serves 3,000 peopleSurface WaterOwner: Local GovernmentAuburn, New York
Nothing open right now.

On record since 2007: 5 violations. 2 over the limit · 2 missed or late tests · 1 notice or report. Most recent began 2022-07-01.

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

2Over the limit
0Treatment lapse
2Missed or late test
1Notice or report

More violations on record than 48% of active water systems in New York. Small systems with no staff chemist often rack up missed-test violations; big utilities rarely do.

The record, year by year

20052007 · Missed or late test: 120102014 · Notice or report: 120152017 · Missed or late test: 120202022 · Over the limit: 22022 · Over the limit: 22025
One square = one violation, by the year it began. Empty columns are years with nothing on EPA's record.
40% over the limit · 240% missed or late test · 220% notice or report · 1

Across New York, 67% of violations are missed or late tests and 3% are water over a limit.

How far over the limit

at the limit2×5×10×100×+Trihalomethanes (TTHM)2022-07-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 81.00 UG/L vs limit 80.00 UG/L (1.0×)2022-04-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 83.00 UG/L vs limit 80.00 UG/L (1.0×)
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 3 results on file · action level 15 ppb

5 ppb
5 ppb
2 ppb

Every violation on record

  1. 2022-07-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 81.00 UG/L · limit 80.00 UG/LBack in compliance
  2. 2022-04-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 83.00 UG/L · limit 80.00 UG/LBack in compliance
  3. 2017-01-01Gross Alpha, Excl. Radon and UMonitoring, RegularPeriod ended · no return to compliance on file
  4. 2014-07-01Consumer Confidence RuleCCR Complete Failure to ReportBack in compliance
  5. 2007-10-01Lead and Copper RuleFollow-up Or Routine LCR Tap M/RBack in compliance

System details

Population served3,000
Service connections1,448
Water sourceSurface Water
System typeCommunity Water System
OwnerLocal Government
StatusActive
CityAuburn
EPA ZIP on file13021

Areas served

  • Cayuga County

Reading this record

Owasco Water District is a community water system that draws from surface water and serves about 3,000 people in Auburn, New York. 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.