Arnold, MO Water Report

Arnold's tap water is hard (about 7-9 grains/gallon) and disinfected with chloramine, which is exactly why your faucets crust over with white scale, your glasses come out spotty, soap won't lather, and your skin and hair feel dry, filmy, and itchy after every shower. That scale silently shortens the life of your water heater and appliances. The bigger concern: the water carries chloramine byproducts (TTHMs and HAA5) and chromium-6 at levels many times above independent health guidelines, even though the utility "passes." In older homes, lead can leach in from your own pipes at up to 17 ppb.

On a private well in Arnold: Jefferson County wells pull from limestone/dolomite Ozark aquifer = very hard water, often 15-25+ gpg. Common: iron/manganese (orange-brown staining, black specks, rusty taste), hydrogen sulfide "rotten egg" sulfur smell and sulfate, coliform/E. coli risk in shallow or older wells (worse after Meramec/Big River flooding), seasonal nitrates from septic/ag, and naturally occurring radium/radon. CRITICAL local hook: EPA is actively addressing lead and heavy metals in private wells tied to the SW Jefferson County Mining Superfund area - well owners in the south/west should sample for lead. (Arnold's NE city core sits outside the mining footprint.)