Big Sandy Water District

Water Quality Snapshot: Big Sandy Water District

Big Sandy Water District is a local-owned community water system that delivers drinking water to 13,044 residents in Catlettsburg, Kentucky (Boyd County) through 5,343 service connections. Its water is drawn from surface water sources. EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System records 193 total violations for this system , of which 107 (55%) are health-based, meaning a contaminant exceeded an EPA Maximum Contaminant Level or a required treatment technique failed. A further 54 monitoring and reporting violations are on file. The most recent violation on record dates to 2025.

The most frequently cited contaminant at this system is TTHM, recorded in 91 violations (MCL, health-based). Under EPA's UCMR5 PFAS monitoring program, 3 PFAS compounds were detected in samples collected from this system, with a maximum reported concentration of 25 ppt (parts per trillion). PFAS are persistent synthetic chemicals linked to health effects at very low exposure levels.

Across Kentucky, EPA tracks 424 public water systems serving 4,570,541 people, with 80,482 cumulative violations and 12,554 health-based violations on record. About 99% of systems in the state carry at least one violation, and state-wide the average per system is 189.8 violations. Statewide, 107 of 231 UCMR5-tested systems have reported PFAS detections (46.3%).

Big Sandy Water District's 193 violations sit above the Kentucky average.

All figures above are sourced directly from EPA SDWIS and UCMR5 public data releases and are updated as EPA publishes new reporting cycles.