Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

St James Water System

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

Serves
360 people
Connections
120
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Minden, LA
County
Webster Parish
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

71055

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2013 to 2025.

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 1.4 ppm, for the period ending Dec. 31, 2016. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

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.

Arsenic, fluoride, chromium (total) and uranium: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Aug. 10, 2015 to Dec. 4, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal2

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

3.0ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 3.0 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2015 to 2019

2019: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.0 ppb, in 2018: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. In 2019, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its two samples.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Below EPA’s limits4

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

1.1ppm

Highest yearly average, 2022

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.1 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 1.1 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

5.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

2022 average: 4.0 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 5.3 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2022, the latest year on file, it averaged 4.0 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 10 ppb, in 2013.

What handles it

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

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.16ppm

Highest yearly average, 2015 to 2019

2019 average: 0.16 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.16 ppm, in 2015, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.23 ppm. In 2019, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.16 ppm.

What handles it

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.75ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2022

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.75 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 9.1 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Chromium (total)
  • Uranium

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claims: Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Lead, Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Lead, Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best water filters for lead, ranked

The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Lead and Copper Rule RevisionsThe required inventory of lead service lines was not completed or submitted on time.EPA: LSL InventoryOct. 17, 2024—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 6 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

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. Arsenic, fluoride, chromium (total) and uranium come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. St James 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 didn’t sample this utility; CDC’s yearly averages for Louisiana cover 2020 to 2022; EPA’s compliance samples are from Aug. 10, 2015 to Dec. 4, 2019.

Testing your own tap

St James 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.

The lab Louisiana certifies closest to the area St James Water System serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • LDH Shreveport Regional Laboratory

    Shreveport, LA · about 29 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (318) 676-7809

All 48 certified labs for Louisiana

Sources

PWSID LA1119035. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Webster Parish

All Louisiana utilities

What to do next