Community Water System · PWSID KY0100011

Ashland Water Works

Serves 44,402 peopleSurface WaterOwner: Local GovernmentAshland, Kentucky
1 open treatment violation.

Open for: Revised Total Coliform Rule. EPA counts treatment-technique violations as health-based: a required protective step was not done. It is not a measurement of contamination.

On record since 2000: 39 violations. 13 over the limit · 1 treatment lapse · 14 missed or late tests · 11 notices or reports. Most recent began 2025-08-01.

For this year's test results, ask the utility for its annual Consumer Confidence Report. Every community system must publish one.

13Over the limit
1Treatment lapse1 open
14Missed or late test
11Notice or report

More violations on record than 95% of active water systems in Kentucky. Small systems with no staff chemist often rack up missed-test violations; big utilities rarely do.

The record, year by year

2000 · Notice or report: 120002004 · Missed or late test: 12004 · Notice or report: 22004 · Notice or report: 22005 · Notice or report: 120052009 · Notice or report: 120102011 · Notice or report: 22011 · Notice or report: 22013 · Notice or report: 12014 · Over the limit: 22014 · Over the limit: 22015 · Over the limit: 52015 · Over the limit: 52015 · Over the limit: 52015 · Over the limit: 52015 · Over the limit: 52015 · Missed or late test: 22015 · Missed or late test: 22015 · Notice or report: 32015 · Notice or report: 32015 · Notice or report: 320152016 · Over the limit: 42016 · Over the limit: 42016 · Over the limit: 42016 · Over the limit: 42016 · Missed or late test: 22016 · Missed or late test: 22017 · Over the limit: 22017 · Over the limit: 22017 · Missed or late test: 32017 · Missed or late test: 32017 · Missed or late test: 32018 · Missed or late test: 52018 · Missed or late test: 52018 · Missed or late test: 52018 · Missed or late test: 52018 · Missed or late test: 52019 · Missed or late test: 120202025 · Treatment lapse: 12025
One square = one violation, by the year it began. Empty columns are years with nothing on EPA's record.
33% over the limit · 133% treatment lapse · 136% missed or late test · 1428% notice or report · 11

Across Kentucky, 52% of violations are missed or late tests and 13% are water over a limit.

How far over the limit

at the limit2×5×10×100×+Trihalomethanes (TTHM)Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)2017-04-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.0930 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.2×)2017-01-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.0910 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.1×)2016-10-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.0910 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.1×)2016-10-01 · Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5): measured 0.0610 MG/L vs limit 0.0600 MG/L (1.0×)2016-07-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.0980 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.2×)2016-07-01 · Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5): measured 0.0680 MG/L vs limit 0.0600 MG/L (1.1×)2015-10-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.0820 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.0×)2015-07-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.0810 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.0×)2015-04-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.1060 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.3×)2015-01-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.1110 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.4×)2015-01-01 · Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5): measured 0.0610 MG/L vs limit 0.0600 MG/L (1.0×)2014-10-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.1020 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.3×)2014-07-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.1090 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.4×)
Each dot is one over-the-limit violation: the measured value divided by the limit it broke, on a log scale. Most legal limits for chemicals are running averages set for a lifetime of drinking, so “just over” and “ten times over” are very different news. Hover a dot for the numbers.

What you can do

  • Total Coliform Bacteria: If your water system has coliform violations, consider boiling water or using bottled water until the system confirms the issue is resolved. Contact your water provider for their latest test results and any boil-water advisories.

Lead & copper at the tap

Utilities sample taps in homes most likely to have lead pipes, and report the 90th-percentile result: 9 in 10 homes sampled came in at or below this number. Above the red line (the action level) the utility must act. The action level is not a safe level; EPA's health goal for lead is zero. EPA's file does not date these results, so they are shown highest first.

Lead, 90th percentile 3 results on file · action level 15 ppb

14 ppb
4 ppb
0 ppb

Open now (1)

  1. 2025-08-01Revised Total Coliform RuleTTOpen

Every violation on record

  1. 2025-08-01Revised Total Coliform RuleTTOpen
  2. 2019-06-01Revised Total Coliform RuleMONBack in compliance
  3. 2018-09-01Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)Monitoring and Reporting (DBP)Back in compliance
  4. 2018-09-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)Monitoring and Reporting (DBP)Back in compliance
  5. 2018-08-01Revised Total Coliform RuleMONBack in compliance
  6. 2018-05-01Surface water filtration (IESWTR)Monitoring, Turbidity (Enhanced SWTR)Back in compliance
  7. 2018-04-01Surface water filtration (IESWTR)Monitoring, Turbidity (Enhanced SWTR)Back in compliance
  8. 2017-09-01Revised Total Coliform RuleMONBack in compliance
  9. 2017-08-01Surface water filtration (IESWTR)Monitoring, Turbidity (Enhanced SWTR)Back in compliance
  10. 2017-04-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)Failure Submit IDSE/Subpart V Plan RptBack in compliance
  11. 2017-04-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0930 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LBack in compliance
  12. 2017-01-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0910 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LBack in compliance
  13. 2016-10-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0910 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LBack in compliance
  14. 2016-10-01Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0610 MG/L · limit 0.0600 MG/LBack in compliance
  15. 2016-07-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0980 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LBack in compliance
  16. 2016-07-01Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0680 MG/L · limit 0.0600 MG/LBack in compliance
  17. 2016-02-29Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)Monitoring and Reporting (DBP)Back in compliance
  18. 2016-02-29Trihalomethanes (TTHM)Monitoring and Reporting (DBP)Back in compliance
  19. 2015-12-14Public NoticePN Violation for NPDWR ViolationBack in compliance
  20. 2015-12-01Public NoticePN Violation for NPDWR ViolationBack in compliance
  21. 2015-10-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0820 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LBack in compliance
  22. 2015-07-07Public NoticePN Violation for NPDWR ViolationBack in compliance
  23. 2015-07-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0810 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LBack in compliance
  24. 2015-04-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.1060 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LBack in compliance
  25. 2015-01-01Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)Failure Submit IDSE/Subpart V Plan RptBack in compliance
Show the other 14 entries
  1. 2015-01-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)Failure Submit IDSE/Subpart V Plan RptBack in compliance
  2. 2015-01-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.1110 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LBack in compliance
  3. 2015-01-01Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0610 MG/L · limit 0.0600 MG/LBack in compliance
  4. 2014-10-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.1020 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LBack in compliance
  5. 2014-07-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.1090 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LBack in compliance
  6. 2013-11-08Public NoticePN Violation for NPDWR ViolationBack in compliance
  7. 2011-11-07Public NoticePN Violation for NPDWR ViolationBack in compliance
  8. 2011-07-27Consumer Confidence RuleCCR Inadequate ReportingBack in compliance
  9. 2009-07-01Consumer Confidence RuleCCR Inadequate ReportingBack in compliance
  10. 2005-10-27Consumer Confidence RuleCCR Inadequate ReportingBack in compliance
  11. 2004-10-01Lead and Copper RuleFollow-up Or Routine LCR Tap M/RBack in compliance
  12. 2004-07-01Consumer Confidence RuleCCR Inadequate ReportingBack in compliance
  13. 2004-07-01Consumer Confidence RuleCCR Complete Failure to ReportBack in compliance
  14. 2000-07-01Consumer Confidence RuleCCR Complete Failure to ReportBack in compliance

System details

Population served44,402
Service connections14,684
Water sourceSurface Water
System typeCommunity Water System
OwnerLocal Government
StatusActive
CityAshland
EPA ZIP on file41101

Areas served

  • Boyd County

Reading this record

Ashland Water Works is a community water system that draws from surface water and serves about 44,402 people in Ashland, Kentucky. Everything above comes from the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), where states report every violation by every public water system.

Four kinds of violation. Only one is a measurement of the water: over the limit means a test came back above a legal maximum (an MCL). A treatment lapse means a required protective step was not done, such as disinfection, filtration, fixing a defect an inspector found, or filing a lead-pipe inventory. A missed or late test means a required test was skipped or never reported. That is the most common kind, and the most misread: it does not mean the water was bad, and it does not mean the water was fine. Notices and reports covers public notices and the annual Consumer Confidence Report.

Status. “Back in compliance” means the state recorded a return to compliance. “Period ended” means the violation's compliance period is over but no return to compliance was ever filed, which is common in older records. EPA's federal copy lags state records by months, so call the utility for anything current.