Barling Waterworks, AR
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2028). 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 Barling Waterworks
Barling Waterworks serves about 5,822 people through 2,293 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Sebastian County, Arkansas. EPA system ID: AR0000512; phone on file: 479-452-1556. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Barling Waterworks's lead record
Against the period ending 2025 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Barling Waterworks is 3 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2028 | 1 ppb |
| 2025 | 1 ppb |
| 2022 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 3 ppb |
| 2016 | 3 ppb |
Against other Arkansas systems
Of the 190 Arkansas systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 15 are over 15 ppb right now and 19 have gone over at some point. Barling Waterworks's 1 ppb sits at the 26th percentile in Arkansas and the 55th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
11 other systems share Sebastian County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Barling Waterworks. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Fort Smith Water Utilities | 86,209 | 1 ppb |
| Greenwood Waterworks | 9,905 | 1 ppb |
| Lavaca Waterworks | 3,650 | 1 ppb |
| Mansfield Waterworks | 2,367 | - |
| Central City Water Department | 1,227 | - |
| Hackett Waterworks | 1,090 | 15 ppb |
| Huntington Waterworks | 782 | - |
| Hartford Waterworks | 725 | - |
| Bonanza Waterworks | 610 | - |
| Fcmtc Waterworks | 500 | - |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Barling, AR 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 Barling Waterworks 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.