St Tam Parish - Cross Gates SD water quality report, rewritten

Serves: 8,037
Connections: 2,679
Water source: Groundwater
Based in: Covington, LA
County: St. Tammany Parish
Owner: Local government

The ZIP code it serves

70460

PWSID LA1103053 · EPA data

Read this first

Lithium (above EPA’s health benchmark) was found in four of 4 samples, highest 12.3 ppb. Above EPA’s health reference level of 10 ppb, a screening level rather than an enforceable limit.

1 health-based violation since 2016. Details are below.

What was found

Highlighted: above the health goal, or EPA’s health benchmark where there is no goal. Circled: above the legal limit in at least one sample, or the action level. Every scale puts that line at its middle.

PFAS and lithium: EPA UCMR 5, samples taken from Jan. 10, 2024 to July 8, 2024. Each blue tick on a scale is one sample where it was found.

Lithium (above EPA’s health benchmark)

Comes from the source

12.3ppb

Highest of 4 samples; found in four

Health reference level 10

12.3

Above EPA’s health reference level of 10 ppb, a screening level rather than an enforceable limit.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Also found, with no federal limit

EPA measured these PFAS to learn how often they occur. None has a legal limit or a health goal yet.

Compound	Highest sample	Found in	Certification claim
6:2 FTS	8.2 ppt	1 of 4	None covers it

Tested and not found

Below EPA’s minimum reporting level in every sample taken from Jan. 10, 2024 to July 8, 2024. Not found means not measured above that level, which is not the same as zero.

All 29 compounds tested and not found

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

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or rule	Type	Period	Measured	Status
Groundwater Rule	A significant problem found in a state inspection was not fixed on time.EPA: Failure To Address Deficiency	Aug. 13, 2021	—	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 cannot tell you

Levels of everything else. Federal bulk data carries results for PFAS, lithium, lead and copper, and violations for the rest. Nitrate, arsenic, disinfection byproducts and other levels are in St Tam Parish - Cross Gates SD’s own annual report, which it must send you every year.
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.
Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q2; UCMR 5 samples are from Jan. 10, 2024 to July 8, 2024.

Other Louisiana utilities

All Louisiana utilities

Sources

EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data, file of Aug. 27, 2026
EPA SDWA bulk download (SDWIS federal data), 2026 Q2
Limits and goals: each contaminant’s page, with its EPA source.
How this page is built: methodology.

What to do next

Read up on Lithium
What each one does to health, where it comes from, and the certification claim that addresses it.
About Lithium
Get the utility’s own report
St Tam Parish - Cross Gates SD must send you a water quality report every year. It lists nitrate, arsenic and byproduct levels this page cannot.
How to read it
Test your own tap for lead
Your service line, solder and fixtures decide the lead at your faucet, not the utility’s average.
Lead in your water: what to do
Decide if you want a filter at all
A filter for taste or chlorine is a preference, not a need. The standards say what each kind can do.
NSF/ANSI standards, decoded