Carter Lake Water District

Water Quality Snapshot: Carter Lake Water District

Carter Lake Water District is a local-owned community water system that delivers drinking water to 3,791 residents in Carter Lake, Iowa (Pottawattamie County) through 1,306 service connections. Its water is drawn from surface water sources. EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System records 73 total violations for this system , of which 25 (34%) are health-based, meaning a contaminant exceeded an EPA Maximum Contaminant Level or a required treatment technique failed. A further 40 monitoring and reporting violations are on file. The most recent violation on record dates to 2022.

The most frequently cited contaminant at this system is TTHM, recorded in 25 violations (MCL, health-based). Under EPA's UCMR5 PFAS monitoring program, 1 PFAS compound was detected in samples collected from this system, with a maximum reported concentration of 5.3 ppt (parts per trillion). PFAS are persistent synthetic chemicals linked to health effects at very low exposure levels.

Across Iowa, EPA tracks 1,795 public water systems serving 3,114,444 people, with 138,271 cumulative violations and 27,946 health-based violations on record. About 95% of systems in the state carry at least one violation, and state-wide the average per system is 77 violations. Statewide, 127 of 152 UCMR5-tested systems have reported PFAS detections (83.6%).

Carter Lake Water District's 73 violations sit below the Iowa average.

All figures above are sourced directly from EPA SDWIS and UCMR5 public data releases and are updated as EPA publishes new reporting cycles.