Pocatello public water system guide

Start with the provider named on your water bill or account. A Pocatello mailing address alone does not establish City water service. The department says it serves customers inside the city and portions of Bannock County. For an uncertain property, contact Utility Billing, 208-234-6241; renters can also ask the property manager which utility supplies the building.

EPA’s Version 3 dataset contains one polygon for POCATELLO CITY OF, ID6030043. It identifies the original provider as the US EPA Office of Research and Development, provenance as federal agency, and method as Random Forest. Its classification is “Modeled,” with service-area type “Other Transient Area.” The feature’s verification-status, method-details and original-source-link fields are blank. No utility-verified upstream boundary is supplied by this record.

EPA source-record date

June 6, 2024

Snapshot retrieved

September 17, 2026

Modeled area

53.51 km² (rounded from 53.507712435084464)

Snapshot counts

57,092 people; 18,525 service connections. These older map-record values differ from the separately retrieved EPA/state identity counts of 58,231 and 18,712.

Use the EPA address-search map to explore possible systems near a location, then confirm the named PWSID with the utility. A modeled match does not guarantee a connection, and an empty result does not prove that no provider serves the property. The separate lead-service-line map describes materials, not the utility service boundary.

EPA boundary layer, queried by independently confirmed PWSID ID6030043. The displayed geometry is a preserved snapshot. Its source-record date does not establish when any real service boundary was last verified.

The City’s report for 2025 describes groundwater from the Lower Portneuf Valley and Eastern Snake River Plain aquifers. Snowmelt from the Mink Creek and Gibson Jack watershed areas supplies most of the recharge to the Lower Portneuf Valley Aquifer. These are source-water areas, not boundaries showing which homes receive City water.

The report describes 21 well stations capable of producing more than 50 million gallons per day. Water is pumped from the valley floor to 15 storage facilities at higher elevations, with approximately 23.6 million gallons of combined storage. Gravity supplies pressure to homes below; pressure-regulating valves manage pressure in lower areas. These are report-period capacity figures, not actual daily use or a current facility inventory.

The City describes adding a small amount of chlorine for distribution-system disinfection. Although the report also says the aquifer water does not need treatment, chlorine addition is itself a treatment step. The report’s assurance about purity is the provider’s statement, not a finding about water at an individual tap.

EPA’s 2024 UCMR 5 questionnaires identify gaseous chlorine (CLGA) and groundwater with disinfection only (GWD) at all six reported entry points, in both water sampling events. Those operational responses describe that monitoring period; they do not identify the analytical method used for routine chlorine-residual measurements. The PFAS and lithium records retain the original responses.

The Water Department page, checked September 17, 2026, separately lists 21 wells, 16 tanks, 12 booster pumping stations, 47 pressure-reducing valves and 291 miles of pipe, supplying over 5.5 billion gallons per year. Its approximately 17,645 customers are not the same measure as EPA’s 18,712 service connections or 58,231 people. The webpage does not state the effective date of these counts. The report’s 15 storage facilities and webpage’s 16 tanks remain separate observations; no reason for the difference is established.

Source: 2025 report, pages 2–3, reviewed September 17, 2026. Confirm the provider for your address using your water bill or the City Water Department.

Idaho’s source-water database lists 25 Pocatello sources: 21 with assessments and four marked “Not assessed.” The assessed wells include inactive sources, so this is not a count of operating wells. The records evaluate well construction, how readily water moves through the ground, and potential contaminant sources and land uses within contributing-water zones.

For most assessed wells, the hydrologic sensitivity rating is high. The replacement Well 3 is rated moderate for hydrologic sensitivity but “Auto High” in all four final contaminant categories; its record identifies a road within 45 feet and notes Interstate 15, surface water and railroad sources. These are screening inputs for protection planning, not proof that those activities contaminated a household’s water.

DEQ says susceptibility scores are updated on the system’s request, while potential-contaminant inventories are updated annually. Automatic high ratings can reflect organic-chemical detections, inorganic results over a maximum contaminant level, microbial source detections, or potential sources within 50 feet. A high rating is not itself a drinking-water violation. Many Pocatello records retain a November 27, 2000 report date while listing later detections, including 2018 results. Replacement Well 3 is dated May 20, 2012. Neither date is substituted for the annual report’s January 2019 assessment date.

Sources: Idaho Source Water Assessment Database and DEQ source-water program. For a property or activity near a well, ask the Water Department for the applicable protection-area map and current protection requirements; a contributing-water zone is not a water-service boundary.

Report counts are dated descriptions, not a reconciled construction ledger. The 2020 report lists 21 wells and 16 storage facilities, while the 2021 report lists 17 wells and 15 storage facilities. Both describe more than 45 million gallons per day of well capacity and approximately 23 million gallons of storage. The 2022–2024 reports return to 21 wells and describe 15 storage facilities totaling approximately 23.6 million gallons. The 2025 report raises the stated production capacity to more than 50 million gallons per day. These differences do not, by themselves, prove particular openings or closures.

Earlier reports describe 17 producing wells in 2010, 18 in 2011–2012, and 17 in 2013–2015, each with more than 45 million gallons per day of production capacity and 15 storage facilities holding 23,120,000 gallons. The 2016 and 2017 diagrams also describe 17 wells, more than 45 million gallons per day and 15 storage facilities, but print storage capacity as “23,120,00” gallons. That apparent missing digit is retained as a source error rather than silently repaired. The 2018 report describes 17 well stations and approximately 23 million gallons in 15 storage facilities. The 2019 report describes 21 wells and 16 storage facilities. Capacity is not actual daily production, and these changes in reported counts do not identify specific construction dates.

The 2015 water sampling-year report describes 45 pressure-boundary zones with pressures from 40 to 150 psi. Its capital program aimed to lower pressures above 100 psi where economically and operationally feasible. It also described pressure-reducing valves installed through individual plumbing permits for improvements, with maintenance assigned to property owners. This is historical policy context, not verification of today’s permit requirements; ask the Water Department about the pressure and requirements for a particular property.

2018 report · 2015 report · 2014 report · 2013 report · 2012 report · 2011 report · 2010 report · Water sampling years are used here; report cover dates can be the following year.

The 2020–2024 reports date the source-water assessment to November 2000; the 2025 report instead says January 2019. Idaho’s individual records above retain older report dates and later monitoring entries; they do not identify a system-wide January 2019 revision. The 2021 conservation narrative says all drinking water comes from the Portneuf Aquifer, whereas its source section also names the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer. Both statements are preserved as a source inconsistency, without inventing a source mix.

Sources: 2024 report; 2023 report; 2022 report; 2021 report; 2020 report; Infrastructure and assessment descriptions are on pages 2–4; the 2021 conservation account is on page 5. All were read September 17, 2026.

The report published as the 2026 Water Quality Report covers 2025 water sampling, with some results from 2022–2024. Its 17 rows cover inorganic contaminants, bacteria, radionuclides, volatile organic compounds, lead and copper, disinfection byproducts, chlorine, and UCMR 5 monitoring. Read each row’s testing year and statistic; the publication year is not the testing year for every result.

Lead and copper results are from 2022: the 90th-percentile values are 2.0 ppb for lead and 0.414 ppm for copper, with zero sites above their printed action levels. A 90th percentile describes the distribution of measured results, not a maximum or a result for every home. The 2024 UCMR 5 entries show lithium at 34.1–42.3 ppb and a grouped “PFAS” entry as ND. The grouped PFAS row supplies no unit or individual compound results; ND does not mean zero.

Source: City of Pocatello 2025 water sampling table. Existing extraction reviewed August 28; original table rechecked September 17, 2026. These historical results do not establish current compliance, current notices, or household conditions.

The City’s annual-report archive contains water sampling years 2010–2025. The detailed historical tables reproduced here cover all 15 earlier water sampling years, 2010–2024. The separate well-analysis archive below covers 2003–2024. Reports are generally published the following year, and individual rows can carry older testing dates. Results from different wells, periods or statistical measures should not be treated as a continuous trend at your tap.

The 2023 table prints 2022 lead at 3.0 ppb and copper at 0.208 ppm, while the 2022, 2024 and 2025 reports print 2.0 ppb and 0.414 ppm for 2022. The state’s 2020–2022 summaries agree with the latter pair. Both report versions are retained; no official correction has been established. That 2023 table also includes 2024 UCMR5 results, including lithium 36.4–42.3 ppb, compared with 34.1–42.3 ppb in later reports.

The 2023 coliform row prints “Yes *” alongside ND results. Its footnote describes an improperly collected source water sample with chlorine residual, an invalidated water sample and an immediate replacement water sample. The state’s GWR monitoring record separately lists a compliance-achieved action dated October 16, 2024. These accounts have different detail and timing; neither is silently substituted for the other.

Official annual-report archive. The reproduced tables and their printed definitions were checked against the linked report pages on September 17, 2026. Blank, ND, N/A and printed dashes remain distinct. The grouped PFAS entries do not identify individual compounds or supply a unit.

EPA’s final July 2026 UCMR 5 release contains 360 results for POCATELLO CITY OF, ID6030043: 29 PFAS analytes and lithium at six entry points to the distribution system. All 348 PFAS results are below their analyte-specific reporting levels. The 12 lithium results range from 34.1 to 42.3 µg/L; lithium is not a PFAS. These are dated monitoring results, not measurements of an individual home’s water.

Water samples were collected on February 15, August 5, August 13 and September 16, 2024, under two event codes, SE1 and SE2. The six locations are finished-water points for Wells 10, 12, 13, 18, 34 and 44. Some results within the same event have different collection dates; those dates remain attached to each result.

A “<” sign with a blank numeric result means below the listed minimum reporting level (MRL), not zero. MRLs describe laboratory reporting capability, not health thresholds. All concentrations here retain EPA’s µg/L, or micrograms per liter. EPA says these UCMR results do not establish compliance or noncompliance with PFAS drinking-water limits.

For both events at all six points, the utility reported CLGA (gaseous chlorine) and GWD (groundwater system with disinfection only). Its questionnaire answered “No” to previous lithium testing, previous PFAS testing and awareness of potential PFAS sources. Those are questionnaire responses: they do not mean lithium was absent, and they are not proof that no potential PFAS source exists.

EPA UCMR occurrence archive and July 2026 definitions, pages 2, 6 and 14–18; retrieved September 17, 2026.

The City publishes a separate chemical-analysis archive with well-specific results, including non-detects and blank cells that the annual consumer report may not show. A well result is not a household result or automatically the same statistic as an annual-report range. The 2024 sheet lists nitrate as N from 1.14 to 5.38 mg/L among its numeric entries, and ND for Well 28. It also prints trichloroethylene at 0.57 ug/L for Well 12 and 0.55 ug/L for Well 13, and vinyl chloride at 0.5 ug/L for Well 12. These entries require their own source context rather than being silently merged into the annual report.

The 2021 sheet prints Well 02 nitrate as N at 13.11 mg/L. The annual report’s Well #2 maximum is 11.69 and the state violation record is 12 MG/L. The chemical sheet supplies no individual water sample date or statistic explaining that difference. All three source values remain separate; none identifies the concentration at a resident’s tap.

Official chemical-analysis archive, 2003–2024. All 22 available annual chemical sheets, 2003–2024, are included. Their 1,815 analyte rows retain each sheet’s well columns, units, blanks, non-detects and source notes. The historical MCL and UR labels describe the source document, not a statement of today’s regulatory status.

The older MCL column is reproduced literally. For example, the 2019 sheet prints 0.00 mg/L for beryllium, mercury and thallium; these rounded source cells are not presented as current regulatory limits. A blank MCL cell is not evidence that a substance is unregulated.

The 2004 and 2005 footnotes print “micrograms per liter (mg/l).” That wording and abbreviation disagree: mg/L denotes milligrams per liter, while micrograms per liter is µg/L. The source wording and each result’s printed unit are retained; the footnote is not used to convert results.

The state portal’s expanded date search returns 26 lead-and-copper summary rows across 13 monitoring periods beginning in 1992. Its help page identifies these measurements as 90th-percentile summaries. They describe the distribution of measured results, not the maximum concentration or a test of your home. The annual report’s 2022 results correspond to the state’s 2020–2022 period; those dates are different reporting conventions, not silently interchangeable.

For January–June 2026, the state displays 60 water samples for each analyte: copper 0.474000000 mg/l and lead 0.005000000 mg/l, with summaries received May 26, 2026. The receipt date precedes the printed period end; both are preserved. The oldest listed period, July–December 1992, displays copper 1.520000000 mg/l from 100 water samples and lead 0.006500000 mg/l from 104 water samples. These historical values require the rules and treatment context applicable at the time; they are not a current tap-water assessment.

Source: Idaho Drinking Water Watch, retrieved September 17, 2026, using a January 1, 1900–September 17, 2026 date filter. The default view shows only two years. State explanation of the summary statistic.

Idaho’s Drinking Water Watch lists 63 grouped or individual violation records for ID6030043, with identifiers from 1982–2025. Monitoring violations concern required water sampling or reporting; they do not establish that a contaminant exceeded a limit. Maximum contaminant level (MCL) violations are a different category. Record identifiers, determination dates, compliance periods and violation periods can differ and are retained separately.

The 2013 report explains that Well #18 missed scheduled sodium, gross alpha, uranium and VOC monitoring during 2008–2013 after a motor failure. The source remained offline until the motor was repaired. The report says the required subsequent water samples were taken in April 2014 and met drinking-water standards; that later statement does not fill the earlier monitoring gap.

Record 2022-8347 documents a nitrate MCL-average violation at Well #2 for October–December 2021, with an analysis result of 12 MG/L. Associated actions include three compliance-achieved entries dated May 19, 2022, another dated August 8, 2022, and public-notification receipt dated December 17, 2022. These entries are preserved separately; they do not establish which water reached an individual home.

Record 2024-8356 concerns required Ground Water Rule monitoring associated with E. coli, with an October 2023 compliance period and a compliance-achieved action dated October 16, 2024. Its analysis-result field is blank. Record 2025-8364 concerns routine chlorine monitoring for April 2025; its displayed actions request notification and record a reminder, without a compliance-achieved action. Missing resolution on that detail page is not proof that the issue remains unresolved today.

The portal continues to print status “V” even for entries with compliance-achieved actions. We preserve that code rather than interpret it as present noncompliance. Historical coliform and turbidity records, 1996 monitoring records, 2014 Well #18 monitoring records and 2020 SOC-group monitoring records are included below. Dates use the source’s month-day-year format.

Source: Idaho Drinking Water Watch violation listing and all 63 linked detail pages, retrieved September 17, 2026. The state system identity was checked independently against EPA’s ID6030043 record. This is a historical snapshot, not a current advisory or a complete case-file review.

The City’s public inventory map has separate overall, private-side and utility-side fields. A September 17, 2026 aggregate query using the map’s own ACTIVE account-status filter returned 21,407 point records: 21,284 classified overall as “Non-lead” and 123 as “Unknown.” These are counted GIS records, not a verified total of unique physical connections. The total differs from EPA/state connection counts; no explanation or deduplication rule has been established.

“Unknown” means material identification remains unresolved in this dataset. The overall categories do not fully describe the materials: the private-side field includes 689 galvanized records, while the utility-side field includes six. Do not infer whether a galvanized line requires replacement from that material label alone. No “Lead” category was returned by this filtered aggregation; that is not a certification that every property or connector contains no lead.

Use the City service-line map for an individual property, then ask the Water Department to clarify an unknown or inconsistent entry. The City’s inventory explanation describes maintenance records, permits, owner surveys and visual inspections. It describes replacement in the public right-of-way and replacement of short lead goosenecks when found; it does not promise a universally funded private-side replacement program.

Official LSLI Public Status layer, reached through the map linked by the Water Department. Counts retrieved September 17, 2026; no dataset-wide effective date was supplied in the layer metadata. The query retrieved aggregate categories only, without household addresses or account records.

An expanded state search lists five visits from 2008–2023. Each displays highest deficiency severity “NON,” zero deficiencies found and zero resolved. These are summary fields, not the underlying inspection reports or a guarantee of present conditions. Four entries carry reason code SNSV, which the state defines as a sanitary survey. One carries LV1A, which is not defined in the retrieved reason-code glossary; its meaning is not inferred from the abbreviation.

Idaho site visits, retrieved September 17, 2026 with the full-date filter. Default two-year results omit these entries. The listing offers no linked inspection documents; underlying findings remain to be obtained. State explanation of site visits and visit-reason definitions.

The 2025 report lists High Country Tank replacement, a water-system facility planning study, and Well 17 at Highland Golf Course under “What’s Happening.” It does not give completion dates. These entries are a dated project snapshot, not confirmation that work is finished or affecting your street today.

The report describes an annual system flush to remove sediment, check hydrants and valves, and verify fire-flow capacity. Its conservation discussion describes voluntary, mandatory and emergency stages and monitoring of aquifer levels and demand. It does not establish today’s conservation stage or a current flushing schedule.

Source: 2025 report, pages 5–6, reviewed September 17, 2026.

The fiscal-year 2026 schedule takes effect October 1, 2025; the City’s rates webpage identifies the period through September 30, 2026. Metered bills combine a line-size charge with water consumption. Inside-city, outside-city and “CB-Inside” prices are separate columns. Sewer and sanitation are separate services and are not included in the water figures below.

For a ¾-inch line, the listed monthly line charge is $13.80 inside the city and $20.70 outside. Single-family consumption in the first 25,000-gallon tier costs $3.17 or $4.75 per 1,000 gallons respectively. The schedule says tiered rates apply during the May–October irrigation season; ask billing how that rule applies to your account before estimating a bill.

The City calls the reduced-rate category Circuit Breaker and directs applicants to the Bannock County Assessor’s property-tax reduction process. The published CB-Inside amounts are water prices, not cash assistance payments. Eligibility and application timing require confirmation with Utility Billing, 208-234-6241.

Sources: complete fiscal-year 2026 rate sheet and Utility Rates, checked September 17, 2026. The system-page rate details retain all water rows from the PDF. Blank CB cells are not zero; the webpage instead prints N/A for multi-unit and commercial usage. The PDF lists a $2.75 convenience fee on card transactions; the webpage also includes e-checks. Confirm current payment fees with billing.

The report directs drinking-water questions and requests for annual reports or chemical analyses to the City Water Department, 208-234-6174. It lists the office at 1889 N Arthur Avenue and the mailing address as P.O. Box 4169, Pocatello, ID 83205-4169. Confirm current hours before visiting.

For household testing, the report names IAS Envirochem in Pocatello as a laboratory accepting water samples from the public. Contact the laboratory before collecting a water sample to confirm the test, collection instructions and price; the report does not publish a price or promise a City-funded testing program. Household plumbing and service-line questions require property-specific information.

The report asks landlords and other account holders to share it with tenants, residents and employees who receive the water. Its Spanish-language notice asks readers to have the report translated or speak with someone who understands it. That notice does not establish availability of a complete Spanish translation or an accessible alternative format; ask the Water Department for language assistance.

For newer instructions, check City of Pocatello news and the Water Department. This page is not a live outage or emergency-notice service.

Source: 2025 report, pages 5 and 7, reviewed September 17, 2026. Contacts are attributed to that report; current hours, testing fees and language-format availability need direct confirmation.

Water emergency

208-234-6181 — Water Department emergency line.

Water quality, pressure or flushing concern

208-234-6182 — Water Shop. Give your address, when the change began and whether nearby properties are affected.

Billing and service questions

208-234-6241 — Utility Billing.

Numbers from the Water Department, checked September 17, 2026. The utility-rates page labels the shop number “Water Emergency”; the department distinguishes the shop and emergency numbers shown here.

The City’s FAQ invites participation at City Council meetings on the first and third Thursday of the month at 6 p.m., in Council Chambers at 911 North 7th Avenue. Check the official agendas and meeting notices for the actual date, agenda and participation instructions before attending. This recurring schedule is from the Water Department FAQ, checked September 17, 2026.