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City of Zachary Water System

What EPA’s and CDC’s records show in this utility’s water: PFAS and lithium; nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
31,569 people
Connections
10,523
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Zachary, LA
County
East Baton Rouge Parish
Owner
Local government
The 4 ZIP codes it serves

30116, 30117, 30118, 70791

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium, above EPA’s health benchmark. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What was found

PFAS and lithium: EPA UCMR 5, samples taken from June 19, 2023 to Dec. 11, 2023.

Nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): Louisiana’s yearly averages per water system, as CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network publishes them, 2020 to 2022, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and uranium: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from June 18, 2012 to June 18, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

PFAS: None of the six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 drinking water rule was found in this utility’s samples. None of the other 23 PFAS tested for was found either.

EPA’s 2024 PFAS rule, compound by compound

PFASEPA’s limitResult
PFOA4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 10 samples, below 4 ppt
PFOS4.0 pptNot foundNot found in any of 10 samples, below 4 ppt
PFHxS10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 10 samples, below 3 ppt
PFNA10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 10 samples, below 4 ppt
HFPO-DA (GenX)10 pptNot foundNot found in any of 10 samples, below 5 ppt
PFBSIndex onlyNot foundNot found in any of 10 samples, below 3 ppt
Hazard IndexPFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS together1Doesn’t applyDoesn’t apply: no sampling location found two or more of the four
Results from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling. “Below” is the lab’s reporting level: a result under it reads as not found, which is not the same as zero. The limits are EPA’s 2024 rule, with compliance due from 2029; EPA has since proposed changes to some of them, explained on each compound’s page. PFBS has no limit of its own and counts only toward the Hazard Index, which adds up the four, each against EPA’s health-based level, from each sampling location’s average, as EPA’s UCMR 5 summary does. It counts only where two or more of the four were found, and is above the limit from 1.5.

Above EPA’s health benchmark1

Lithium

Comes from the source

Above EPA’s health benchmark

18.9ppb

Highest sample, Dec. 11, 2023; found in 10 of 10

The highest sample was 18.9 ppb, about twice EPA’s health reference level of 10 ppb. That is a screening level, not an enforceable limit.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Below EPA’s limits4

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.0ppm

Highest yearly average, 2022

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.0 ppm, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.1 ppm, in 2019.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

12.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

2022 average: 8.1 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 12.9 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2022, the latest year on file, it averaged 8.1 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 16.5 ppb, in 2012.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

4.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

2022 average: 3.0 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 4.8 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2022, the latest year on file, it averaged 3.0 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 4.0 ppb, in 2013.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.2ppm

Highest yearly average, 2012 to 2019

2019 average: 0.17 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.2 ppm, in 2018, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.4 ppm. In 2019, the latest year on file, its four samples averaged 0.17 ppm.

What handles it

Utilities above EPA’s PFAS limits, state by state
33 compounds tested and not foundIncluding all six PFAS in EPA’s 2024 rule. Below the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.

From routine monitoring

  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Lead
  • Uranium

PFAS and lithium, from EPA’s UCMR 5 sampling

  • 11Cl-PF3OUdS
  • 4:2 FTS
  • 6:2 FTS
  • 8:2 FTS
  • 9Cl-PF3ONS
  • ADONA
  • HFPO-DA (GenX)
  • NEtFOSAA
  • NFDHA
  • NMeFOSAA
  • PFBA
  • PFBS
  • PFDA
  • PFDoA
  • PFEESA
  • PFHpA
  • PFHpS
  • PFHxA
  • PFHxS
  • PFMBA
  • PFMPA
  • PFNA
  • PFOA
  • PFOS
  • PFPeA
  • PFPeS
  • PFTA
  • PFTrDA
  • PFUnA

Disinfectant

City of Zachary Water System reported disinfecting with chlorine, not chloramine, at all 5 of its sampling points, in its 2023 sampling for EPA.

Chlorine leaves water that sits out for a few days, CDC says. A filter certified for it carries a chlorine claim under NSF/ANSI 42; a shower filter, a free chlorine claim under NSF/ANSI 177. This is what the utility reported for that sampling. Its annual water quality report says what it uses now.

Chlorine vs. chloramineShower filters, by what their listings cover

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are Louisiana’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Fluoride, arsenic, chromium (total) and uranium come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. City of Zachary Water System’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has newer results for those and the contaminants this page does not show.

  • Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.

  • What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.

  • Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 samples are from June 19, 2023 to Dec. 11, 2023; CDC’s yearly averages for Louisiana cover 2020 to 2022; EPA’s compliance samples are from June 18, 2012 to June 18, 2019.

Testing your own tap

City of Zachary Water System’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab Louisiana certifies.

No lab Louisiana certifies is within 75 miles of the area City of Zachary Water System serves on the state’s list. Some take samples by mail; the state’s page lists them all.

All 48 certified labs for Louisiana

Sources

PWSID LA1033030. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in East Baton Rouge Parish

All Louisiana utilities

What to do next