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How do I decipher my water quality report?

Understand the quality of water in your home
Ever find yourself wondering what’s in your drinking water?
All public water service providers are required by federal law to provide annual reports on water quality. These reports are available to the public and detail various traits of the water supply — from composition characteristics like pH and hardness to contaminants like bacteria and chemicals.
The Albemarle County Service Authority (ACSA) provides these reports on our website for our four coverage areas: Crozet, Red Hill, Scottsville and the urban area that covers Charlottesville. Along with our mission to provide safe, clean and reliable Albemarle County water, we also want to ensure our residents understand why ACSA water is of such high quality.
Water reports provide a wealth of information, but it’s true that they can be hard to decipher. Wondering how to read a water quality report? When viewing your report — the 2024 report for Scottsville, for example — you’ll find a multi-colored table about midway through the document. This contains most of the information you’ll need to know, but sometimes figuring out what it says can be a bit overwhelming.
To help our customers, we’ve put together this blog that defines essential terminology and addresses a few of the most frequently asked questions about your drinking water quality report.
What do all of these acronyms mean?
Water experts love acronyms! But, admittedly, they’re not very intuitive if you aren’t familiar with the science of water composition. Don’t fret, though, because there are only a few you really need to understand to read the report. Here are definitions of the most important acronyms:
PPM (parts per million)
A unit of measurement that defines how much of a substance exists within a fluid — in this case, water. When testing water, we deal with very tiny particles — often called “microparticles” and “microbes” for good reason! While microscopic and most often invisible to the human eye, there are certain quantities of these particles that are considered harmful. Therefore, they must be measured, even in tiny quantities. PPM is a common way to do so.
PPB (parts per billion) and PPT (parts per trillion)
Other measurements for even smaller particles than those that can be measured in PPM.
pCi/l (picocuries per liter)
A measure units of radiation, similar to PPM, PPB, and PPT for particle sizes.
MCL (maximum contaminant level)
All water from natural sources contains some level of water contaminants. However, the human body is able to process those contaminants with so long as they do not reach a certain quantity in the water supply. (See “PPM” above for how this is measured!) The MCL — as set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — is the measurement at which certain contaminants may become toxic to humans. Our testing and treatment processes, equipment, infrastructure, and staff work together to ensure that contaminants in the ACSA water supply stay well below the MCL.
MCLG (maximum contaminant level goal)
The MCLG is similar to the MCL but in some cases may have a lower threshold for what is considered toxic. The MCL is actually based on the MCLG. ACSA views the MCLG as our standard, ensuring safety by maintaining low contaminant levels well under maximum thresholds.
What does ACSA test my water for?
Quite a bit! While the EPA requires public water utilities to routinely test for a number of organic and inorganic compounds, ACSA tests for even more — and often more frequently than what’s required. Each ACSA water quality report provides a detailed listing and description of all potential contaminants we test for. This allows you to understand what’s in your water and the side effects a toxic level of contamination could have.
Where do I see how my water measures up?
Each ACSA water quality report includes a table that lists each contaminant we test for, its MCL and MCLG, and how much was detected in the public drinking supply for that particular locality. That information is all listed in the first four columns of the table, making it easy to review. Our reports also include the full range of detections (from the lowest to highest amount found) and descriptions of the most common sources of those specific contaminants.
Because water samples may differ slightly, even within the same region, we pull our test samples directly from multiple public taps to ensure accuracy.

What else does the water report tell me about my water?
In addition to measurements for contaminants, our water quality reports include information about your water’s acidity (pH), scale (“softness” or “hardness”), clarity (i.e. turbidity) and source. Because we are so passionate about what we do, we also include educational information about why water quality matters and how ACSA is proactive in keeping your tap water clean and safe.
Find yourself wondering, What’s in my water? While testing and treating water is a complicated process, understanding what’s in your water can be easy. Furthermore, it’s a responsibility everyone should take seriously. We encourage you to look at your water quality report annually and contact us with questions or concerns. If you’re interested in learning more about your water and how ACSA does its part, visit the ACSA website for more information, tips and resources!
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