CAROLINE COUNTY, Va. — Residents in Caroline County had their chance on Tuesday to speak with the president of Aqua Virginia, the private utility company providing their occasionally discolored water. They complained about the company increasing their prices while still serving what they described as low-quality water.
CBS 6 first reported in August on elevated levels of iron and manganese turning water brown in the Lake Land’Or community. The problem — which Aqua Virginia said is caused by the company flushing their systems for maintenance — occurred again earlier this month.
Now Aqua Virginia, which operates 190 systems in 37 counties across Virginia, has asked the State Corporation Commission to allow them to raise their water and wastewater prices across the board — the eighth time they have done so since 2006. They have 65 full-time employees for the whole state.
Virginia homeowners' water turns brown and becomes unusable. Now their utility company wants to raise prices.
"I’ve been in third world countries where I don’t have to deal with this kind of crap,” one resident said at the meeting with Aqua.
Lake Land‘Or residents already pay some of the highest prices in Virginia. Only four counties have more expensive water bills, according to a report by the Virginia Association of Counties.
If the SCC allows Aqua’s rate hikes to go through, Lake Land’Or and Heritage customers will face a $6.40 base fee increase, and a $2.74 increase for every 1,000 gallons of water they use.
The average household in Lake Land’Or uses about 4,000 gallons each month, according to Caroline County officials. Under Aqua’s proposed prices, families on the Heritage side of Lake Land’Or, who receive both water and wastewater from Aqua, would have to pay about $50 more each month for their combined water and wastewater bills.
When Aqua flushes their system, they ask customers to clean the aerators on their faucets, flush their water lines and water heaters — extra steps many are taking on top of regularly replacing their water filters and buying bottled water for a hefty cost.
“Honestly I'm upset about it because we shouldn’t be charged for your negligence,” another resident said at the meeting.
Aqua Virginia President John Aulbach told customers he believes he has a solution that will resolve the brown water issues.
“I’ve determined that well twelve is contributing to discoloration events and higher iron manganese than I want to see in this system,” Aulbach said. “So logically as an engineer, if I put treatment on that well to remove those values down, continue the flushing and replace the line that I'm speaking of in here, it will improve.”
The treatment will be installed in 2026, according to Aulbach. Customers will experience monthly line flushings, which will push mineral deposits out of water lines.
Aulbach acknowledged to CBS 6 that residents will still have to pay for the water pushed through their system during the flushings. He said he does not want to do a two-week flushing period like the company did recently.
“I want to reduce that amount of flushing because ultimately that is an operation and maintenance expense, and the customer pays for through rates on an indirect basis,” Aulbach said.
Customers asked what Aqua Virginia did with the money they raised through multiple other rate increases approved by the SCC, including their last case from 2023. Aulbach said he was not prepared to answer that question and would be happy to share that information at a later date.
“it’s laughable man,” one resident said. “It’s laughable for you to stand up there and tell all these people oh here is where your money is going to go, it’s going to do this. The fact of the matter is the water sucks. Your rates are exorbitant compared to the state average.”
Aulbach told the SCC in testimony for Aqua’s rate case they are committed to continuing to satisfy customers’ needs by providing quality services at a reasonable price.
“We understand that rate increases are never easy for our customers, and the Company constantly endeavors to plan prudently for 14 infrastructure upgrades and to reduce costs,” Aulbach said.
Aqua Virginia’s lead engineer Andrew Barnes testified on the improvements they have made since their last rate hike. He said they have completed and advanced numerous projects --- including a wastewater dewatering building at the Lake Land’Or wastewater treatment plant.
A spokesperson for Aqua Virginia told CBS 6 there is more than one reason for the discoloration of the water. Aqua is taking multiple steps to resolve the issue, including two projects in 2026, an estimated $1.1 million investment.
Aqua Virginia is hiring an engineer to help select treatment technology to reduce levels of iron and manganese in the water. They will also replace two waiter mains.
"We’ve been through this for 15 years with you upgrading and everything is still the same,” resident Darrell Coates said. “So if you do it this time and it doesn’t work, do we get something back off of this time?"
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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