City of Monroe - Important Information About Your Drinking Water
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER
Monroe Water System Did Not Meet Treatment Requirements
Our water system recently violated drinking water requirements. Although this situation does not require that you take immediate action, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we did (aredoing) to correct this situation.
We are required to monitor your drinking water for turbidity (cloudiness) on a continuous basis (every 15 minutes) and report such results to the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH). This tells us whether we are effectively filtering thewater supply. The Surface Water Treatment Rule (SWTR) requires our treated water to meet 0.349 Nephelometric Treatment Units (NTUs) or less in 95 percent of the measurements per month and never exceed a maximum allowableturbidity limit of 1.499 NTUs at any time.
During the January 1, 2026 through January 31, 2026 compliance monitoring period, the Monroe Water System was in violation of the Surface Water Treatment Rule. The violation occurred because the treated water turbidity level exceeded 0.349 Nephelometric Treatment Units (NTUs) in 9.8% of the treated water monthly measurements. In addition, the Monroe Water System exceeded 1.499 NTU on January 25 and January 26, 2026 and exceeded 5 NTU on January 25 and January 26, 2026.
What should I do?There is nothing you need to do. You do not need to boil your water or take other corrective actions. If you have specific health concerns, consult your doctor. If you have a severely compromised immune system, have an infant, are pregnant, or are elderly, you may be at increased risk and should seek advice
from your health care providers about drinking this water. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
What does this mean?The system was under a Boil Advisory at the time the violations. Tests taken to rescind the Boil Advisory did not indicate the presence of bacteria in the water.
Turbidity has no health effects. However, turbidity can interfere with disinfection and provide medium for microbial growth. Turbidity may indicate the presence of disease-causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, andparasites that can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches. These symptoms, however, are not just associated with disease-causing organisms in drinking water, but also may be caused by a number of factors other than your drinking water. EPA and LDH has set enforceable requirements for treating drinking water to reduce the risk of these adverse health effects. Treatment such as filtering and disinfecting the water removes or destroys microbiological contaminants. Drinking water which is treated to meet EPA and LDH requirements is associated with little to none of this risk and should be considered safe.
What is being done?During the recent winter storm, the Monroe Water System experienced a Tier 1 violation after turbidity levels temporarily exceeded the maximum allowable limit. At the time, the City was already under a citywide boil water advisory, which addressed all related water quality concerns and was lifted on January
29.
City of Monroe Water System Manager Sean Benton confirms all required testing has been completed, results meet all regulatory standards and the water is safe to drink. The Monroe Water System is fully operational with no ongoing issues.
For more information, please contact Sean Benton at (318) 329-2385.
Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
February 18 2026
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