7 systems earn A’s while 2 earn D’s
Seven of LaSalle Parish’s 13 water systems received an “A” recently with the release of the Louisiana Department of Health’s (LDH) 2023 Water System Grade Report.
Every year the state is required by law to develop a letter grade for each water system in the state as part of its community water system accountability. According to LDH, the letter grade is reflective of each water system’s quality and performance.
Systems are graded on federal water quality, state water quality, financial sustainability, operation and maintenance, infrastructure, customer satisfaction and secondary contaminants (iron and manganese).
The Rogers Community Water System received the highest score in the parish, earning a 103 out of 100, with a letter grade of A.
The Town of Jena Water System was second on the list, earning a 99 out of 100, A.
The Town of Urania Water System was third, earning 98/100, A.
The Belah-Fellowship Water System was tied with the Town of Olla for fourth, each earning 95/100, A.
The East Jena Water System was tied with the Summerville Water System for sixth, each earning 90/100, A.
The LaSalle Waterworks District 1 and the Nebo Water System was tied for eighth, each earning 86/100, B.
The Pleasant Ridge Water System was tenth, earning 80/100, B.
The Whitehall Water System was eleventh, earning 75/100, C.
The Manifest-Rhinehart Water System was twelfth, earning 65/100, D.
The Town of Tullos Water System was thirteenth, earning 64/100, D.
In all, LaSalle Parish water systems had seven A’s, three B’s, one C and two D’s.
The grading system used by LDH starts each system with 100 points and then takes deductions for various violations, issues and other problematic deficiencies.
There is a bonus category that allows up to ten bonus points to be given for “asset management plan, storage or well assessment and maintenance plan, participation in capacity development or management training.”
In the report of Rogers, they received five bonus points but had one deduction for a chlorine violation and one deduction for a valid water complaint reported. This equaled three extra bonus points earning them their 103 score.
For the Town of Jena, they received all ten bonus points, but deductions for one chlorine violation, unresolved significant deficiencies and financial sustainability dropped their score to 99.
Superintendent Ronny Steele told the Jena Town Council during their regular meeting last week that they are appealing the financial sustainability portion and should they win the appeal their grade will improve to a 104.
The Town of Urania did not earn any bonus points, which means their score of 98 did not need the help of any extra points.
The town only had two points deducted due to two chlorine violations reported in 2023. Other than that, they would have had a perfect score.
Although the Belah Fellowship Water System did not have any water related problems to have points deducted from their score, they were deducted five points due to the fact that they did not submit an acceptable audit for last year. With no bonus points added, those five deducted points dropped their score to a 95.
The Town of Olla did receive five bonus points, however, two chlorine violations, three valid water complaints reported and a report of manganese and/or iron levels over the secondary maximum contaminant level dropped their score to a 95.
East Jena had no chlorine or other water quality issues; however, they were deducted ten points for not having a rate study and not submitting an acceptable audit. With no bonus points added to their score, they ended up with a 90.
The final A-system, Summerville, also did not have any bonus points and with a deduction of 10 points due to no rate study or submitting an acceptable audit, they too had a final score of 90.
LaSalle’s two lowest grades, Manifest Rhinehart, 65-D, and Tullos, 64-D, were plagued with several issues that dropped their scores to barely passing.
Manifest was deducted points for having boil advisories and water outages, unresolved significant deficiencies and valid water complaints. With a total of 35 points deducted and no bonus points, its final score was 65.
Earlier this year, Manifest Rhinehart merged with the Nebo Water System due to its overwhelming water issues and the new system will be graded for 2024.
The Town of Tullos had its greatest deductions due to four violations of maximum contaminant levels. These four violations alone cost the system 30 points from its starting score of 100. Another point was removed due to a chlorine violation and another five points were deducted due to having five valid water complaints.
With a total number of deductions at 36, with no bonus points, the system’s final score was 64.
For a complete list of all water systems, their scores and details of their grading system, visit https://ldh.la.gov/page/water-grade-2023. Locate the Louisiana map and click on LaSalle Parish to navigate to individual water systems.
