The State Health Department releases the grades of more than 900 community water systems in Louisiana. The data is a culmination of 2021 legislation for the accountability and transparency of community water systems. State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter says residents have a right to clean and safe drinking water.
“We know that we have aging water infrastructure systems. What’s important is that we have a clear pathway forward to invest smartly and this lays a great groundwork to do that and empowers residents with information.”
Health department officials estimate it will cost nine billion dollars over the next two decades to upgrade water systems.
New Iberia Senator Fred Mills who authored the Community Drinking Water Accountability Rule, encourages you to look at your local water systems grade, and if it’s failing or close to it, ask your local government how they are addressing it…
“If you are on a failing water system, there’s action that can be taken. Meet your local officials and say, “What is going on? What’s happening here?”. If you’re on an ‘A’ water system thank your officials. Thank them for what they’re doing.”
Mills says you should also look at the grades of nearby water systems because depending on their grade, consolidation of water systems might be the best option.
LDH Chief Engineer Amanda Ames led the implementation of the project and they will publish water-grade systems annually on May 1st. She says 67 percent of water systems received an A or B grade and 15 percent.
“There’s only about 15% of the water systems in the state that received a ‘D’ or an ‘F’ which is about 5% of the population.”
A low grade does not mean that water is unsafe to drink.
Grades for 951 community water systems can be found at ldh.la.gov/watergrade.
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