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Safe Drinking Water Program
The Safe Drinking Water Program provides comprehensive drinking water protection to the citizens and visitors of Louisiana, supervising over 1,300 public water systems for compliance with state and federal drinking water regulations. The goal of the Safe Drinking Water Program is to prevent illness and death that can occur from waterborne disease outbreaks or chemical exposure associated with contaminated drinking water.
The Safe Drinking Water Program accomplishes this through the activities listed below.
- Monitoring: Collection, analysis and review of bacteriological and chemical samples to ensure compliance with maximum contaminant levels, treatment technique requirements, monitoring and analytical requirements.
- Inspections: Sanitary surveys and site inspections are conducted to evaluate the capability of a drinking water system to consistently and reliably deliver an adequate quality and quantity of safe drinking water to the consumer and to ensure compliance with state and federal drinking water regulations.
- Engineering Plan Review: Conducts reviews of and issues permits for new construction and modification of public water systems including the source, treatment, storage and distribution facilities to ensure the quality and protection of drinking water.
Program Highlights
- Water Regulations & Resources
- Emergency Response and Reporting
- PWS Monitoring Plan Portal
- Community Water Systems Accountability Rule **Water System Grades**
- Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances
- Bacteriological Sample Collection and Truck Routes
- Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund
- Private water well testing
- Lead and Copper Rule Revisions and Lead Service Line Inventory
Safe Drinking Water Fee (Act 605 of 2016) - Beginning January 1, 2017, the fee will be increased from $3.20 per connection per year for community water systems to $12 per connection per year minus five percent per connection to be retained by the water system. There were no changes made to the annual flat rate of $100 for non-community water systems. With this increase, the Safe Drinking Water Program will reinstate the bacteriological sample collection program for all public water systems statewide. Additionally, the Safe Drinking Water Program will begin to collect and analyze the total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) samples for water systems statewide.
News and Updates
- Water and Wastewater Sector Threat Briefing (February 27, 2024)
- Cybersecurity Alert (November 17, 2022)
- Drinking Water Advisory Page
- Maintaining or Restoring Water Quality in Buildings with Low or No Use - Important information for public water systems, building owners, building managers and businesses to address building water quality to minimize water stagnation.
- CISA Guidance on Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers - Identifies water operators as essential critical infrastructure workers and provides guidance on operation and communication.
- Child Care & School Lead Testing Program
- School Lead Water Testing Pilot Program (Story Map)
- EPA Lead and Copper Long-Term Revisions - (LCR Key Improvements, LCR Current vs Draft, LCR Infographic)
- New Significant Deficiencies - Final Rule (July 20, 2018)
- Drinking Water Facts on Naegleria fowleri
- Risk and Resilience Assessments and Emergency Response Plans
Reporting
- Act 263 Interim Reports - Act 263 of 2017 Regular Legislative Session, tasked LDH to evaluate the issues and conditions of drinking water treatment and distribution through the evaluation of sanitary survey results for each water utility system by 2020.
- 2024 Drinking Water Disinfection Annual Report (DAR) - This annual report provides information on compliance with the minimum disinfection rule reported each January. (2017 DAR), (2018 DAR), (2019 DAR), (2020 DAR), (2021 DAR), (2022 DAR), (2023 DAR)
- 2023 Annual Compliance Report (ACR) - This annual compliance report is a summary of water systems with water regulation violations in the referenced calendar year. (2013 ACR), (2014 ACR), (2015 ACR), (2016 ACR), (2017 ACR), (2018 ACR), (2019 ACR), (2020 ACR), (2021 ACR), (2022 ACR)
Drinking Water Watch
The program's Drinking Water Watch database shows historical reports of public water systems in Louisiana. Drinking Water Watch contains inventory, analytical, compliance and enforcement data. Through this database, you can access public records for these water systems at no cost.
Please note that these data reflect technical information and full inspection results for each water system. You may see terms and measurements listed that are unfamiliar. If you have questions, contact information for each water system is included in the database or you can complete the Safe Drinking Water Help form.
For a summary of your water system's history, review your annual Consumer Confidence Report. Every public water system is required to deliver this report to customers each year to inform them about the quality of their drinking water and the services that system provides. Current Consumer Confidence Reports and a map where you can locate the system for your parish are available here.
You may also visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Enforcement & Compliance History Online (ECHO) website to see inspection results for public water systems nationwide. ECHO contains analytics and trends, so you can see how your system compares to others around the country.