Ashland Water Works, KY
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2026). 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.
Ashland Water Works at a glance
Ashland Water Works serves about 44,402 people through 14,684 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 Boyd County, Kentucky. EPA system ID: KY0100011; phone on file: 606-465-1006. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Ashland Water Works's lead record
That is down 12 ppb from 14 ppb in the period ending 2023. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Ashland Water Works is 14 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (1 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 ppb |
| 2023 | 14 ppb over 10 |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 4 ppb |
How Ashland Water Works compares
Of the 367 Kentucky systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 0 are over 15 ppb right now and 4 have gone over at some point. Ashland Water Works's 2 ppb sits at the 75th percentile in Kentucky and the 73rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
2 other systems share Boyd County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Ashland Water Works. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Big Sandy Water District | 13,044 | 3 ppb |
| Cannonsburg Water District | 8,953 | 3 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Ashland, KY 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 Ashland Water Works 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.