Water Company Officials Say Chromium 6 May Not Pose Serious Threat

The possible carcinogen chromium 6 was recently found in Louisville's drinking water. But Louisville Water Company officials believe there’s no cause for concern.The water company is already required to filter out total chromium, which also contains chromium 6. Loose chromium 6, however, may also be dangerous, and the State of California and the federal government are both considering regulating the compound.Louisville Water Company Spokesperson Kelly Dearing Smith says the company will comply with all regulations. But a new treatment plant in eastern Jefferson County may already be filtering out chromium 6."We're going to be looking at that water and we believe that some of the chromium will be taken out by the project," she says. "The other thing that we're doing right now, is we're doing a $100 million upgrade of the Crescent Hill filtration plant. That's our largest treatment plant. Part of the carbon in the filter system, there, we believe will also remove additional levels of chromium."Louisville was among 25 cities to be found with a possibly unsafe level of chromium 6 in the water.