Alleghany County W.D., CA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3.76 ppb (monitoring period 2021-2023). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Lead was measured in sampled homes but the 90th percentile is under both action levels. EPA's health goal for lead is zero, so test your own tap if your home was built before 1986 or anyone in it is pregnant or a young child.
Who runs the water here
Alleghany County W.D. serves about 82 people through 50 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Sierra County, California. EPA system ID: CA4600012; phone on file: 530-287-3454. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Every lead result on file
That is down 5.76 ppb from 9.52 ppb in the period ending 2020. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Alleghany County W.D. is 9.52 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 3.76 ppb |
| 2020 | 9.52 ppb |
| 2018 | 4.1 ppb |
Against other California systems
Of the 2,884 California systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 30 are over 15 ppb right now and 215 have gone over at some point. Alleghany County W.D.'s 3.76 ppb sits at the 88th percentile in California and the 86th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
7 other systems share Sierra County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Alleghany County W.D.. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| City Of Loyalton | 983 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sierra Csa #5, Sierra Brooks | 726 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sierra Water Resources - Sierra City | 324 | 1.72 ppb |
| Downieville Public U.D. | 290 | 1.98 ppb |
| Sierra City Water Works, Inc. | 250 | 1 ppb |
| Sierraville P.U.D. | 200 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sierra Co. W.W.D #1 Calpine | 182 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Alleghany, CA may offer free or low-cost kits through the utility. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Alleghany County W.D. whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do.
These figures describe homes the utility sampled, not your tap. Only your service line record or a test of your own water answers the question for your house. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.