Is Chatham, VA tap water safe?
The short answer
1 of the 3 utilities serving Chatham has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and CDC’s records: Woodroam Subdivision.
Town of Chatham, 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 Chatham’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.
- Open report
Town of Chatham
Virginia · serves 2,500 people · under 100 in Chatham
Nothing in its records is above a health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Woodroam Subdivision
Virginia · serves 80 people · based in Chatham
1 result above the action level and 1 result above the health goal. The worst: Copper at 1.8 ppm, above the action level.
1 health-based violation since 2016
- Open report
Wayside Acres Subdivision # 2
Virginia · serves 43 people · based in Chatham
2 results above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 1.8 ppb, above the health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
Water testing near Chatham
The 3 labs Virginia certifies closest to Chatham, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Cisco Labs of Martinsville Va
Martinsville, VA · about 23 miles
Certified for bacteria
Pace Analytical Services, LLC - Eden NC
Eden, NC · about 29 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics
American Water Testing Company
Alton, VA · about 29 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 VirginiaZIP codes in Chatham
Which ZIP codes are in Chatham: 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 Chatham
Towns nearby with a page of their own.
What to do next
- Read Town of Chatham’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