Is Charlottesville, VA tap water safe?
The short answer
None of the 5 utilities serving Charlottesville has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and CDC’s records.
City of Charlottesville, which serves the most people here, has nothing above a health goal in EPA’s and CDC’s records. That data covers what its report lists, not everything.
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 Charlottesville’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.
- Open report
City of Charlottesville
Virginia · serves 46,553 people · about 2,700 in Charlottesville
Nothing in its records is above a health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Acsa Urban Area
Virginia · serves 77,408 people · about 2,300 in Charlottesville
Nothing in its records is above a health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Peacock Hill Subdivision
Virginia · serves 475 people · under 100 in Charlottesville
1 result above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 1.4 ppb, above the health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Ivy Farms
Virginia · serves 45 people · under 100 in Charlottesville
1 result above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 2.0 ppb, above the health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Acsa Red Hill
Virginia · serves 240 people · based in Charlottesville
Nothing in its records is above a health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
Water testing near Charlottesville
The 3 labs Virginia certifies closest to Charlottesville, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Aqua-Air Lab Inc.
Charlottesville, VA · about 2 miles
Certified for bacteria
Augusta County Service Authority Fishersville Regional Laboratory
Staunton, VA · about 30 miles
Certified for bacteria
VDACS RAHL Harrisonburg
Harrisonburg, VA · about 38 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 VirginiaWhich ZIP codes are in Charlottesville: 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: DCLS, drinking water laboratories with certification detail; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.
Near Charlottesville
Other towns in Albemarle County with a page of their own.
What to do next
- Read City of Charlottesville’s full reportEvery result with its dates, the violations, and the certification claim that handles each finding.Open the report
- 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
- On a private well?No utility tests a well. A certified lab test is the first step.How to test well water