Altoona Water Authority, PA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2.87 ppb (monitoring period 2025-2025). 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.
About Altoona Water Authority
Altoona Water Authority serves about 62,500 people through 23,379 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Blair County, Pennsylvania. EPA system ID: PA4070023; phone on file: 814-949-2222. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Altoona Water Authority's lead record
That is up 1.32 ppb from 1.55 ppb in the period ending 2022. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Altoona Water Authority is 2.87 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.87 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.55 ppb |
| 2019 | 0.59 ppb |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
Where this result ranks
Of the 516 Pennsylvania systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 2 ppb; 143 are over 15 ppb right now and 156 have gone over at some point. Altoona Water Authority's 2.87 ppb sits at the 57th percentile in Pennsylvania and the 80th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Blair County
23 other systems share Blair County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Altoona Water Authority. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Hollidaysburg Muni Auth | 8,523 | 0.73 ppb |
| Tyrone Boro Water Auth | 6,500 | 0 (not detected) |
| Roaring Spring Muni Water Auth | 3,182 | - |
| Bellwood Boro Auth | 3,162 | - |
| Martinsburg Muni Auth | 3,160 | - |
| Blair Twp Water & Sewer Auth | 2,550 | - |
| Greenfield Twp Muni Auth | 2,500 | - |
| Duncansville Muni Water Auth | 2,350 | - |
| Williamsburg Munic Auth | 1,800 | - |
| Freedom Twp Water & Sewer | 1,400 | - |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Altoona, PA 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 Altoona Water Authority 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.