Atka, AK
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3.7 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.
About Atka
Atka serves about 50 people through 40 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a Native American tribe and draws surface water, in Aleutians West Census Area County, Alaska. EPA system ID: AK2260058; phone on file: 907-839-2233. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Atka's lead record
That is up 2.45 ppb from 1.25 ppb in the period ending 2020. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Atka is 6.4 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 3.7 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.25 ppb |
| 2018 | 6.4 ppb |
How Atka compares
Of the 394 Alaska systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.6 ppb; 3 are over 15 ppb right now and 53 have gone over at some point. Atka's 3.7 ppb sits at the 79th percentile in Alaska and the 86th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
5 other systems share Aleutians West Census Area County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Atka. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Unalaska Water System | 9,400 | 3.05 ppb |
| Saint Paul Water System | 380 | 0.7 ppb |
| Adak Utilities | 325 | 13 ppb |
| Saint George Water System | 65 | - |
| Nikolski Village | 34 | - |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Atka, AK 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 Atka 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.