Athena, City Of, OR
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.76 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.
Who runs the water here
Athena, City Of serves about 1,238 people through 568 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Umatilla County, Oregon. EPA system ID: OR4100064; phone on file: 541-566-0228. 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 2021 (1.71 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Athena, City Of is 3.3 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 1.76 ppb |
| 2021 | 1.71 ppb |
| 2018 | 1.45 ppb |
| 2018 | 1.21 ppb |
| 2016 | 3.3 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 909 Oregon systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 15 are over 15 ppb right now and 71 have gone over at some point. Athena, City Of's 1.76 ppb sits at the 64th percentile in Oregon and the 67th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
30 other systems share Umatilla County; 12 of them have a higher latest lead result than Athena, City Of. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Hermiston, City Of | 20,000 | 2 ppb |
| Pendleton, City Of | 16,996 | 3 ppb |
| Umatilla, City Of | 8,256 | 0 (not detected) |
| Milton-Freewater, City Of | 7,145 | 2 ppb |
| Stanfield, City Of | 2,115 | 2 ppb |
| Pilot Rock, City Of | 1,326 | 0 (not detected) |
| Weston, City Of | 714 | 0 (not detected) |
| Echo, City Of | 632 | 0 (not detected) |
| Adams Water Dept, City Of | 400 | 2 ppb |
| Vista Home Park | 300 | 5 ppb |
Next steps for Athena, OR
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Athena, OR 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 Athena, City Of 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.