Local water facts · Virginia
Albemarle County Service Authority serves 71,078 people from Rivanna River system (RWSA). The numbers below are from the utility’s own published testing, compiled by the EWG Tap Water Database (June 2026). The water is legal — the question is how it compares to health guidelines, which sit well below the legal limits.
📄 Download Albemarle County Service Authority’s one-page report — print it or share it (PDF) →
Each card shows how far a contaminant sits above its health guideline — the level scientists consider protective over a lifetime of drinking. A system can pass every legal test and still carry these levels.
17.3 ppb found · health guideline 0.06 ppb
Cancer-linked Read the research on Haloacetic acids (HAA9) →16.9 ppb found · health guideline 0.1 ppb · legal limit 60 ppb
Cancer-linked Read the research on Haloacetic acids (HAA5) →24.7 ppb found · health guideline 0.15 ppb · legal limit 80 ppb
Cancer-linked Read the research on Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) →7.61 ppb found · health guideline 0.1 ppb
Cancer-linked Read the research on Trichloroacetic acid →4.14 ppb found · health guideline 0.06 ppb
Cancer-linked Read the research on Bromodichloromethane →8.68 ppb found · health guideline 0.2 ppb
Cancer-linked Read the research on Dichloroacetic acid →0.494 ppb found · health guideline 0.02 ppb
Cancer-linked Read the research on Chromium (hexavalent) →0.605 ppb found · health guideline 0.03 ppb
Cancer (suspected) Read the research on Dibromoacetic acid →0.429 ppb found · health guideline 0.1 ppb
Cancer-linked Read the research on Dibromochloromethane →Each bar starts at the health guideline and runs on a log scale — the faint ticks mark 10× and 100× over; the dark notch is the legal limit where one exists.
Health-effect labels and guideline levels above come from the EWG Tap Water Database (June 2026) — advisory benchmarks set by EWG’s researchers (methodology), not legal standards. The utility’s water meets federal legal limits.
Think per glass: at 289× the guideline, one glass of tap water carries what 289 glasses would hold at the health-guideline level. The top flag here is Haloacetic acids (HAA9). Not an emergency — but worth knowing, because the fix is specific and usually simpler than people expect.
ZIP codes served by Albemarle County Service Authority include 22901, 22904, 22905, 22909, 22910, 22911, 22923, 22924, 22931, 22932, 22936, 22937, 22940, 22942 and 14 more. Type yours on the free report page to see the version for your address.
Want it for your exact address? The free report matches your ZIP to this data, scores it, and shows which fix covers which flag — see your full free report. Reading tips: how to read a water report in 2 minutes.
Every system we track, plotted by Water Score — 0 to 100, higher is safer.
Albemarle County Service Authority scores 26/100 — ranking #10 of 58 tracked systems.
No single filter does everything — each option covers different flags, so the right answer depends on what’s in your water and how your house is set up. You’re weighing options, not grades of good.
Good on chlorine taste and some disinfection byproducts. Cartridges fade fast — about every 2 months.
The drinking-water workhorse: handles PFAS, nitrate, arsenic and most of the hard flags — at one tap. How Reverse Osmosis (RO) installation works →
Treats every tap and protects pipes and appliances — usually paired with Reverse Osmosis (RO) for the kitchen. What a softener fixes (and can’t) →
The full breakdown of what each option does and can’t do: the honest 60-second version · all the free guides.
Type your ZIP, get the full picture free: every flag, what it means per glass, and which fix covers it. If you’d rather have a person look at it with you, the free in-home Home Water Checkup tests what no city report can see — your heater, pressure, and hardness.
Get my free water report Book a free Home Water CheckupThey probably haven’t seen these numbers. Send them this page — it takes 10 seconds, and they get their own free report.
📄 Get the printable one-page report (PDF)
Grab the postable Water Score card →