Chestnut-Readhimer Water System, LA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1 ppb (monitoring period 2025-2025). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Lead was measured in sampled homes but the 90th percentile is under both action levels. EPA's health goal for lead is zero, so test your own tap if your home was built before 1986 or anyone in it is pregnant or a young child.
Who runs the water here
Chestnut-Readhimer Water System serves about 564 people through 188 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Natchitoches Parish County, Louisiana. EPA system ID: LA1069012; phone on file: 318-286-0451. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2024 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Chestnut-Readhimer Water System is 9 ppb across 8 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 ppb |
| 2024 | 1 ppb |
| 2023 | 2 ppb |
| 2022 | 1 ppb |
| 2021 | 2 ppb |
| 2021 | 3 ppb |
| 2018 | 6 ppb |
| 2017 | 9 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 802 Louisiana systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0.72 ppb; 4 are over 15 ppb right now and 30 have gone over at some point. Chestnut-Readhimer Water System's 1 ppb sits at the 57th percentile in Louisiana and the 53rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
11 other systems share Natchitoches Parish County; 4 of them have a higher latest lead result than Chestnut-Readhimer Water System. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| City Of Natchitoches Water System | 26,910 | 0 (not detected) |
| Natchitoches Parish Wwks District 2 | 8,415 | 1 ppb |
| Town Of Campti Water System | 1,515 | 13 ppb |
| Bellwood Water System | 1,032 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hagewood Water System | 1,017 | 0 (not detected) |
| Creston Water System | 801 | 0 (not detected) |
| Village Of Provencal Water System | 705 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sandy Point 480 Water System | 654 | 0.29 ppb |
| Village Of Clarence Water System | 612 | 1.2 ppb |
| Village Of Goldonna Water System | 540 | 2 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Saline, LA may offer free or low-cost kits through the utility. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Chestnut-Readhimer Water System whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1500 ppb (copper action level 1,300 ppb).
These figures describe homes the utility sampled, not your tap. Only your service line record or a test of your own water answers the question for your house. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.