Artesia Rural Water Cooperative, NM
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.99 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2024). 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.
Artesia Rural Water Cooperative at a glance
Artesia Rural Water Cooperative serves about 1,950 people through 747 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Eddy County, New Mexico. EPA system ID: NM3530608; phone on file: 575-748-2771. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2018 (1.1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Artesia Rural Water Cooperative is 1.1 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 0.99 ppb |
| 2018 | 1.1 ppb |
How Artesia Rural Water Cooperative compares
Of the 504 New Mexico systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.4 ppb; 14 are over 15 ppb right now and 46 have gone over at some point. Artesia Rural Water Cooperative's 0.99 ppb sits at the 36th percentile in New Mexico and the 50th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Eddy County
13 other systems share Eddy County; 8 of them have a higher latest lead result than Artesia Rural Water Cooperative. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Carlsbad Municipal Water System | 33,626 | 0.73 ppb |
| Artesia Municipal Water System | 15,176 | 1.4 ppb |
| Otis Mdwca | 4,464 | 3 ppb |
| Loving Water System | 1,862 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cottonwood Water Mdwca | 1,781 | 2 ppb |
| Malaga Mdwc Swa | 868 | 1 ppb |
| Happy Valley Cooperative Water Works | 638 | 2.6 ppb |
| Morningside Water Users Cooperative | 348 | - |
| Hope Water System | 245 | 0 (not detected) |
| Riverside Mdwa | 227 | 17.9 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Artesia, NM 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 Artesia Rural Water Cooperative 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.