Town of Fries
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
- 484 people
- Connections
- 300
- Water source
- Surface water
- Based in
- Fries, VA
- County
- Grayson
- Owner
- Local government
The ZIP code it serves
The short answer
1 result is above EPA’s legal limit. The worst: Haloacetic acids (HAA5), above the legal limit. 4 health-based violations since 2016.
What was found
Arsenic: Virginia’s yearly averages per water system, as CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network publishes them, 2021 to 2023.
Haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, nitrate and chromium (total): EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Jan. 12, 2012 to Nov. 20, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.
Above the legal limit1
Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
Forms or is added in treatment
72ppb
Highest yearly average, 2012 to 2019
2019 average: 28.2 ppb
Averaged by year, the highest was 72 ppb, in 2017, above EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 129 ppb. In 2019, the latest year on file, its four samples averaged 28.2 ppb. EPA recorded violations for haloacetic acids (HAA5) at this utility in 2017 and 2018.
What handles it
No certification claim covers this compound yet.
Below EPA’s limits3
Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)
Forms or is added in treatment
69.5ppb
Highest yearly average, 2012 to 2019
2019 average: 35.3 ppb
Averaged by year, the highest was 69.5 ppb, in 2014, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 111 ppb. In 2019, the latest year on file, its eight samples averaged 35.3 ppb. EPA recorded no violation for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility from 2012 to 2019.
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
0.88ppm
Highest yearly average, 2012 to 2019
2019, one sample: 0.39 ppm
Averaged by year, the highest was 0.88 ppm, in 2014, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2019, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.39 ppm.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Fluoride Reduction”
- NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Fluoride”
Nitrate
Comes from the source
1.3ppm
Highest sample; found in 8 of 8
2019, one sample: 1.3 ppm
The highest sample, in 2017, was 1.3 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2019, the latest year on file, its one sample was 1.3 ppm.
What handles it
- NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
- NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
- Arsenic
- Chromium (total)
- Lead
Violations since 2016
| Contaminant or rule | Type | Period | Measured | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Average | July 1, 2018 to Sept. 30, 2018 | 0.063 MG/L | Resolved |
| Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Average | April 1, 2018 to June 30, 2018 | 71 UG/L | Resolved |
| Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Average | Jan. 1, 2018 to March 31, 2018 | 0.071 MG/L | Resolved |
| Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | The running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, Average | Oct. 1, 2017 to Dec. 31, 2017 | 72 UG/L | Resolved |
| Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 9 monitoring or reporting violations not shown. | ||||
What this report can’t tell you
Everything else. Arsenic results here are Virginia’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2021 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Haloacetic acids (HAA5), total trihalomethanes (TTHM), fluoride, nitrate and chromium (total) come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Town of Fries’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 Virginia cover 2021 to 2023; EPA’s compliance samples are from Jan. 12, 2012 to Nov. 20, 2019.
Testing your own tap
The 3 labs Virginia certifies closest to the area Town of Fries serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
VDACS RAHL Wytheville
Wytheville, VA · about 17 miles
Certified for bacteria
Blue Ridge Analytical LLC
Wytheville, VA · about 17 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics
Southwest Soils and Water Testing
Hillsville, VA · about 19 miles
Certified for bacteria
Virginia Household Water Quality Program, Virginia Cooperative Extension: Drinking water clinics in about 70 counties a year, run through local Extension offices: pick up a kit, collect the sample on the set day, and drop it off locally. Each kit tests well, spring or cistern water for 28 things, including bacteria, nitrate, lead and arsenic. $70 a kit, with funding to help if you need it. Virginia Household Water Quality Program.
All 145 certified labs for VirginiaSources
- EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data, file of Oct. 15, 2026
- EPA SDWA bulk download (SDWIS federal data), 2026 Q3
- CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking Network, yearly averages Virginia supplied to CDC, 2021 to 2023, read Oct. 8, 2026. TapBuff’s comparisons with EPA’s limits are its own, not CDC’s or Virginia’s.
- EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, file of Feb. 5, 2024
- Certified labs: DCLS, drinking water laboratories with certification detail, read Oct. 10, 2026; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer
- Limits and goals: each contaminant’s page, with its EPA source.
- How this page is built: methodology.
PWSID VA1077240. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.
What to do next
- Read up on Haloacetic acids (HAA5)What each one does to health, where it comes from, and the certification claim that addresses it.About Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
- Get the utility’s own reportTown of Fries must send you a water quality report every year. It covers contaminants this page does not show, and has newer results than EPA’s national file for the ones here that come from it.How to read it
- Test your own tap for leadYour 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 allA filter for taste or chlorine is a preference, not a need. The standards say what each kind can do.NSF/ANSI standards, decoded