Is your water fit to drink in Louisiana? New report card grades cities, systems

As the focus on America's deteriorating drinking water infrastructure sharpens with crises like the recent long-term outage in Jackson, Miss., Louisiana residents now have access to an online report card showing whether their water is fit to drink.

Republican state Sen. Fred Mills of New Iberia passed a law last year requiring the Louisiana Department of Health to post comprehensive report cards and information about most of the state's water systems with letter grades attached to each.

Grades and the interactive digital map were implemented this month on the agency's website at https://ldh.la.gov/page/4563. Nearly 1,000 of the state's 1,200 systems are covered.

The bad news: About 10% of the state's 4.6 million population is served by water systems that failed with a "D" or "F."

Still, the the vast majority of Louisianans have safe water to drink and clean water in which to bathe and wash dishes and clothes, though those systems still range from crystal clear "A's" to sometimes discolored "C's."

"My goal was and is to make water quality transparent and easy to understand for everyone," Mills said in an interview with USA Today Network. "If you get a notice in the mail that says the system operator has detected some sort of chemical or a boil notice, the exact nature of the problem might not be clear to a layperson.

"But everybody can understand if their water system got an 'A' or an 'F.'

Mills, chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, and the agency emphasized that a failing grade doesn't mean the water is unsafe to drink, but it does indicate the system is in peril for the long term.

Most of the state's largest cities have systems with passing grades.

Among those with 'A's' are Alexandria, Bossier City, Gonzales, Houma, Lafayette, Thibodaux and West Monroe.

Monroe, which is in the midst of a $46 million project to expand and upgrade its water treatment plant, earned a 'C,' as did Pineville and Shreveport.

Many of the failing systems are in smaller cities and towns like Opelousas, which received an 'F,' and Ferriday, which also flunked with an 'F.'

Mills and the agency said the early grades are preliminary with systems having a chance to improve their marks before the report card is updated on May 1.

The water systems are graded on categories like quality violations and infrastructure. Soon other categories like customer complaints will be added to the criteria.

Mills' law also prevents municipalities with failing grades from spending money generated from their customers on anything other than their water systems. "You shouldn't take revenue from the water system and spend it on a fire truck if the water system is failing," he said.

Mills and the agency said the map should also generate interest in possible consolidations to improve infrastructure.

"If you have a failing system and you see that your next door neighbor has an 'A' system, why not try to put together a plan to consolidate resources and turn it into one high-performing system," he said, noting he is having a conversation this week about the possibility of just such a consolidation in St. Martin Parish.

Mills also said the grading system should give officials who are reluctant to approve water rate increases justification for such rate hikes.

Mills and the agency also noted that the state has millions of dollars available to upgrade water systems for operators with a viable plan of action.

"Really, when you think about it, what's more important than access to safe, clean water?" Mills said. "My hope is this new information helps drive conversations and solutions so residents in every community can enjoy good water."

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1