NEC Exceedance Notification
March 23, 2026
NOTICE TO CONSUMERS
of the Louisa County Water Authority WATERWORKS
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER
LRAA PMCL Exceedance for Disinfection Byproducts - TTHMs under Stage 2 Rule
March 23, 2026
In February, the Virginia Department of Health notified Louisa County Water Authority that our water system recently violated a drinking water standard. Please be assured that this is not an emergency. However, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened and what the County is doing to monitor and correct this situation.
We routinely monitor for the presence of drinking water contaminants. Testing results from the 1st Quarter of 2026 show that our system exceeded the standard, or maximum contaminant level (MCL), for TTHM. The standard for TTHM is 0.080 mg/L. It is determined by averaging all the samples collected at each sampling location for the past 12 months. The level of TTHM averaged at one of our system’s locations for the 1st quarter 2026 was 0.084 mg/L.
What should I do?
- There is nothing you need to do. You do not need to boil your water or take other corrective actions. If a situation arises where the water is no longer safe to drink, you will be notified within 24 hours.
- If you have a severely compromised immune system, have an infant, are pregnant, or are elderly, you may be at increased risk and should seek advice from your health care providers about drinking this water.
What does this mean?
This is not an emergency. If it had been, you would have been notified within 24 hours.
TTHMs are four volatile organic chemicals which form when disinfectants react with natural organic matter in the source water from the Northeast Creek Reservoir.
When determining lifetime exposure risk, drinking water regulations assume an adult will consume 2 liters per day and children will consume 1 liter per day over the course of 70 years. This means people who drink water containing trihalomethanes in excess of the PMCL over many years may experience problems with their liver, kidneys, or central nervous system and may have an increased risk of getting cancer *
What is being done?
The Northeast Creek water treatment plant recently experienced equipment breakdown in the nanofiltration treatment system and a breakdown of an original early 1980s filtration system. The nanofiltration treatment system provides a high level of organic matter removal which reduces the formation of THMs and HAA5s in the distribution system.
The Louisa County Water Authority has worked diligently to rebuild the 1980s filtration system and make extensive repairs to the nanofiltration system. These repairs were completed last November 2025, but the average over the last 12 months remains high. The most recent samples indicate current THM levels are within state standards.
We will continue to monitor THM and HAA5 levels during quarterly routine sampling.
For more information, please contact Pam Baughman at 540-967-1122 or 23 Loudin Lane, Louisa, VA, 23093.
*Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail. *
This notice is being sent to you by Louisa County Water Authority. State Water System ID# 2109510 Date distributed: 3/23/2026.
