MyTapWater.us

PWSID VA4760100

RICHMOND, CITY OF

Community water system based in Richmond, VA

Service area on file with EPA: Richmond City . EPA's recorded service area can be incomplete for regional authorities. The cities and counties above are what the utility has filed with EPA; the utility may serve additional areas.

Population served
229k
Source
Surface water
Status
Active

At a glance

1 above the safety limit, 1 detection to watch

Risk classification follows EPA's published values for safe drinking water, with caution and concern bands reviewed by a clinician. Past resolved violations do not influence this card. See methodology.

Lead service line inventory

Lead or galvanized-requiring-replacement service lines confirmed in this system

Richmond DPU's published service line inventory identifies 2,429 confirmed lead service lines, 77 galvanized lines requiring replacement, 41,163 confirmed non-lead lines, and 38,104 unknown lines (including 10,151 classified by the utility's predictive model as 'Unknown - Likely Lead'). The City is required by EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Revisions to treat the likely-lead category as lead for notification and replacement scheduling.

  • 2,429 confirmed lead service lines
  • 77 galvanized requiring replacement (LCRI treats these as lead)
  • 38,104 unknown (46.6% of total)
  • 41,163 confirmed non-lead (50.3%)
  • 81,773 total service lines in the system

Why this is a health concern. A galvanized iron service line that was ever installed downstream of a historic lead component (a lead service line, a lead gooseneck connector, or lead solder) absorbed lead into its corrosion layer over decades. The pipe continues to release that accumulated lead into water for years after the upstream lead source is removed. That is why EPA's LCRI treats GRR lines as lead and requires their replacement on the same 10-year schedule as confirmed lead lines. Read our plain-English lead guide.

Note: Counts queried directly from Richmond DPU's authoritative ArcGIS layer that backs the public service line inventory map; the layer is continuously updated as field verifications come in, so this is fresher than VDH's quarterly snapshot. Unknown_count combines 27,953 lines classified Unknown with 10,151 lines classified 'Unknown - Likely Lead' per the utility's predictive model. Separate from current inventory, Richmond has reported replacing nearly 600 lead service lines through grant-funded programs since 2018.

What to do if your service line might be lead
  1. Ask your utility to check the service-line classification for your specific address. Many utilities provide a public address-lookup tool linked from the inventory page.
  2. Get on the replacement queue. Under the LCRI, utilities must replace all lead and galvanized-requiring- replacement lines within 10 years (clock generally starts November 2027). Some prioritize requests.
  3. Until the line is replaced: flush the tap 30 seconds after long stagnation, use cold water for drinking and cooking, and consider an NSF/ANSI 53 lead-rated tap filter.
  4. Talk to your clinician about a blood lead test for anyone in the home, especially a pregnant person or a child under 6. Lead in drinking water guide.

Inventory data sourced from Richmond Department of Public Utilities (reporting date October 16, 2024; retrieved May 19, 2026 ; curator confidence: high ). Confirmed against the original source automatically each month; see methodology.

Lead and copper test results

The most recent measurement per contaminant from EPA's Lead and Copper Rule sampling.

Why only lead and copper, and not arsenic, nitrate, or others?

EPA's bulk SDWIS download is the only nationwide per-system sample data they publish, and it only includes the Lead and Copper Rule table. Values for other regulated contaminants (TTHMs, nitrate, arsenic, etc.) appear on this page only when they trigger a violation. For the full per-system contaminant suite, see the utility's annual Consumer Confidence Report (link further down the page).

Most recent measurements per contaminant (Lead and Copper Rule) . Sorted by risk: concern first, then caution, then unrated, then safe.
Contaminant Most recent Date Risk
Lead
PB90
 0.00359 mg/L December 31, 2025 Caution

Data from EPA SDWIS (Lead and Copper Rule sample table) , last refreshed May 24, 2026.

PFAS and emerging contaminants

This system was tested 120 times under EPA's latest PFAS monitoring program; 0 of the 30 chemicals tested were detected.

What is this testing program?

EPA's fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule cycle (UCMR 5, 2023 to 2025) required every public water system serving over 3,300 people to test for 29 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) plus lithium; 30 chemicals in total. Most recent detection per chemical shown below.

No detections

All UCMR 5 samples for this system were below the EPA-defined minimum reporting level (MRL) for every tested contaminant. Substances that were tested but not detected are listed below.

Tested but not detected (30 contaminants)

EPA tested for these substances and every sample was below the minimum reporting level. Absence of detection does not mean true zero; it means below the laboratory's quantitation threshold.

Data from EPA UCMR 5 (Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule) , last refreshed May 24, 2026.

Fluoride

Per CDC My Water's Fluoride

RICHMOND, CITY OF adds fluoride to its drinking water.

CDC classifies a system as fluoridated when it adjusts fluoride to the recommended level, or when it buys water from a system that does. The U.S. Public Health Service recommends 0.7 mg/L for community water fluoridation.

Source: CDC My Water's Fluoride, listed under RICHMOND, CITY OF (Richmond City County). Verify on CDC's site .

Area context

Virginia statewide (2020 data)

Population on fluoridated water
6,713,205 of 7,027,639 (95.5%)
Community water systems adding fluoride
588 of 1,181

Data from CDC My Water's Fluoride (per-system status) , last refreshed May 19, 2026.

Data from CDC Water Fluoridation Reporting System (state and county aggregates) , last refreshed May 16, 2026.

Compliance history

EPA-recorded violations against this system over the last 5 years.

How to read this section

Health-based violations are when a measured limit was exceeded; the measured concentration is shown alongside the EPA federal limit where SDWIS published it. Monitoring and reporting items are paperwork issues (missed sample dates, late filings) that do not themselves indicate unsafe water.

No health-based violations

No health-based violations on file in the last 5 years. EPA recorded 3 monitoring or reporting items (paperwork) during the same period.

3 monitoring and reporting item s (paperwork) · these are not health risks
Monitoring and reporting items in the last 5 years
Period start Relates to Item Status
September 1, 2021 Revised Total Coliform Rule Monitoring, Lab Certification/Method Error (RTCR) Resolved
September 1, 2021 Revised Total Coliform Rule Monitoring, Lab Certification/Method Error (RTCR) Resolved
September 1, 2021 Revised Total Coliform Rule Monitoring, Lab Certification/Method Error (RTCR) Resolved
7 older violation s (5-10 years ago) · 3 health-based, 4 paperwork , all resolved
Violations 5-10 years ago (7 total)
Period start Relates to Item Measured level Status
July 1, 2020 Carbon, Total Treatment Technique Precursor Removal — Resolved
July 1, 2020 Carbon, Total Treatment Technique Precursor Removal — Resolved
July 1, 2020 Carbon, Total Treatment Technique Precursor Removal — Resolved
November 1, 2018 Revised Total Coliform Rule Monitoring, Routine (RTCR) — Resolved
November 1, 2018 Revised Total Coliform Rule Monitoring, Routine (RTCR) — Resolved
November 1, 2018 Revised Total Coliform Rule Monitoring, Routine (RTCR) — Resolved
November 1, 2018 Revised Total Coliform Rule Monitoring, Routine (RTCR) — Resolved

Data from EPA SDWIS (violation records) , last refreshed May 24, 2026.

Where to see every contaminant this utility tested for

EPA's bulk SDWIS dataset gives MyTapWater.us per-system measured values for lead and copper, plus violation records for everything else. To see every regulated contaminant this utility tested for in the past year (TTHMs, HAA5, nitrate, arsenic, fluoride, chromium, etc.) with measured values, read the utility's Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).

Every community water system is required by EPA to publish a CCR annually, by July 1, listing every contaminant they sampled, the measured value, the federal limit, and any health-based exceedances. Most utilities post the report online; some mail it with your bill.

How to find RICHMOND, CITY OF's CCR:

Contact this utility

Public administrative contact information for this water system, as filed with the EPA. Use this to ask about your service line, request your home's lead status, or report a water quality issue.

Administrator
JOHNSON, DONTE R.
Phone
804-646-1807
Email
Donte.Johnson@rva.gov
Mailing address
3920 Douglasdale Road
RICHMOND, VA 23221

Where this page's data comes from

Bundle released 2026-Q2, regenerated May 24, 2026. Each section above also shows its own source date so you can tell at a glance how fresh that part of the page is.

Every value on this page is cross-verified before publication; read our methodology for the verification steps and corrections process.