Henrico County, Virginia: drinking water report. Henrico County wraps around the northern and eastern edges of Richmond, serving roughly 335,000 residents…
Henrico County wraps around the northern and eastern edges of Richmond, serving roughly 335,000 residents through the Henrico County Department of Public Utilities. The county draws its water from the James River and the Chickahominy River, treating it at two plants before distributing it across a sprawling suburban network. Agricultural runoff from upstream farms and industrial discharges along the James River corridor shape the raw water profile before it ever reaches a treatment facility.
The EPA's UCMR5 monitoring program detected PFAS compounds in Henrico County's water system during 2023-2024 sampling. Virginia has adopted a combined PFAS standard of 10 ppt for PFOA and PFOS – stricter than the federal limit – and several monitoring points in the county have returned detections near that threshold. According to the Virginia Department of Health's 2024 annual report, Henrico's system also recorded elevated levels of haloacetic acids during summer months when warm river water increases disinfection byproduct formation.
The former Defense General Supply Center (now Defense Supply Center Richmond) sits within the county and has documented PFAS contamination from historical firefighting foam use. Groundwater monitoring wells near the facility show PFAS concentrations above EPA health advisory levels.
We recommend starting with a look at your specific water data – check your water to see what contaminants have been detected in your service area. Summer months tend to produce higher disinfection byproduct readings, so if you are on the Henrico system, a carbon block filter can reduce those compounds at the tap.
For PFAS, reverse osmosis is the most effective household option. Our water filter guide ranks systems by independent lab results rather than manufacturer marketing. Pull your detailed report for multi-year trends. For statewide patterns, visit our Virginia page.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Henrico County, VA.
The EPA places Henrico County, VA in Zone 3 - the EPA's lowest-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level below 2 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
43% of homes in Henrico County, VA were built before 1980, and 8% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Henrico County, VA averages 7.6 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide
17 public water systems serving Henrico County, VA have EPA lead testing on record. The reported lead sample skews toward systems that already flagged a problem, so its exceedance rate is not directly comparable with other areas. 7 water systems serving Henrico County, VA carry a health-based EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violation.
| Most-cited violation type | Systems affected |
|---|---|
| Lead and Copper Rule Revisions | 4 |
| Stage 1 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule | 2 |
| Ground Water Rule | 1 |
| Total Organic Carbon | 1 |
Source: EPA Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile tap sampling and EPA SDWIS Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement records, aggregated from the public water systems serving this county. Figures are counts of water systems, not a test of any individual home or tap.