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Town of Saltville

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
2,204 people
Connections
991
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Saltville, VA
County
Smyth
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

24370

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit. The worst: Copper, above the action level. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2024.

Arsenic: Virginia’s yearly averages per water system, as CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network publishes them, 2022.

Fluoride, nitrate, chromium (total), total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from July 9, 2012 to Aug. 28, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the legal limit1

Copper

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the action level

1.4ppm

90th percentile, 2022 to 2024

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.4 ppm, above EPA’s action level of 1.3 ppm.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits4

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.92ppm

Highest yearly average, 2013 to 2019

2019 average: 0.6 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.92 ppm, in 2016, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 1.4 ppm. In 2019, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.6 ppm.

What handles it

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.0ppm

Highest sample; found in 18 of 18

2019 average: 0.8 ppm

The highest sample, in 2015, was 2.0 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2019, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.8 ppm.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

1.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2013 to 2019

2019: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.0 ppb, in 2016, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. Its highest single sample was 2.0 ppb. In 2019, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its two samples.

What handles it

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.35ppb

Highest yearly average, 2012 to 2019

2019 average: 0.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.35 ppb, in 2012, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 0.7 ppb. In 2019, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 0.2 ppb.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
  • Lead

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.”

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

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 6 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic results here are Virginia’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2022 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Fluoride, nitrate, chromium (total), total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Town of Saltville’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 2022; EPA’s compliance samples are from July 9, 2012 to Aug. 28, 2019.

Testing your own tap

Town of Saltville’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 Virginia certifies.

The 3 labs Virginia certifies closest to the area Town of Saltville serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Washington County Service Authority

    Abingdon, VA · about 23 miles

    Certified for bacteria

  • The Town of Lebanon Water - Wastewater Laboratory

    Lebanon, VA · about 24 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (276) 889-7206

  • VDACS RAHL Wytheville

    Wytheville, VA · about 33 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 Virginia

Sources

PWSID VA1173723. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Smyth County

All Virginia utilities

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