Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Is New Orleans, LA tap water safe?

2 utilities serve New Orleans, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and CDC’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

2 of the 2 utilities serving New Orleans have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and CDC’s records: New Orleans Carrollton Water Works and New Orleans Algiers Water Works.

New Orleans Carrollton Water Works, which serves the most people here, has 2 results above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029 and 1 result above the health goal. The worst: PFOS at 4.2 ppt, above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029.

A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in New Orleans’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in New Orleans Carrollton Water Works’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

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

Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near New Orleans

A utility tests the water it sends out. A test of your own tap shows what your pipes add, and on a private well it is the only test there is. It takes a lab Louisiana certifies.

The 3 labs Louisiana certifies closest to New Orleans, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Curtis Environmental Services, Inc.

    LaPlace, LA · about 27 miles

    Certified for minerals and other inorganics, disinfection byproducts

  • Water Test, Inc.

    Covington, LA · about 34 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (985) 892-8329

  • LDH Amite Regional Laboratory

    Amite, LA · about 59 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (985) 748-2011

All 48 certified labs for Louisiana

ZIP codes in New Orleans

Which ZIP codes are in New Orleans: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: LDH, laboratories certified by Louisiana for drinking water analysis; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near New Orleans

Towns nearby with a page of their own.

What to do next