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Caroline Utility System water quality report, rewritten

Serves
4,235
Connections
1,596
Water source
Groundwater
County
Caroline
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

22546

PWSID VA6033085 · EPA data

Read this first

  • Lithium (above EPA’s health benchmark) was found in eight of 10 samples, highest 29 ppb. Above EPA’s health reference level of 10 ppb, a screening level rather than an enforceable limit.

No health-based violations on file since 2016. EPA lists 2 monitoring or reporting violations, which are paperwork and testing lapses rather than water quality findings.

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 July 10, 2024 to Dec. 18, 2024. Each blue tick on a scale is one sample where it was found.

NSF’s PFAS claims are tested to below 20 ppt. EPA’s limit is 10 ppt, and EPA says no certification yet shows a filter reaching its levels.

29ppb

Highest of 10 samples; found in eight

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.

PFHxS

Comes from the source

3.2ppt

Highest of 10 samples; found in two

Detected, below the legal limit and the health goal.

What handles it

Tested and not found

Below EPA’s minimum reporting level in every sample taken from July 10, 2024 to Dec. 18, 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
  • 6:2 FTS
  • 8:2 FTS
  • 9Cl-PF3ONS
  • ADONA
  • HFPO-DA (GenX)
  • Lead
  • NEtFOSAA
  • NFDHA
  • NMeFOSAA
  • PFBA
  • PFBS
  • PFDA
  • PFDoA
  • PFEESA
  • PFHpA
  • PFHpS
  • PFHxA
  • PFMBA
  • PFMPA
  • PFNA
  • PFOA
  • PFOS
  • PFPeA
  • PFPeS
  • PFTA
  • PFTrDA
  • PFUnA

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 2 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

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 Caroline Utility System’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 July 10, 2024 to Dec. 18, 2024.

Other Virginia utilities

All Virginia utilities

Sources

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

    Caroline Utility System 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