Barnstable County Jail, MA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.4 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2022). 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
Barnstable County Jail serves about 600 people through 1 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by the state and draws groundwater, in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. EPA system ID: MA4036015; phone on file: 5085634464. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
That is down 3.6 ppb from 5 ppb in the period ending 2022. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Barnstable County Jail is 5 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.4 ppb |
| 2022 | 5 ppb |
| 2020 | 3 ppb |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
Against other Massachusetts systems
Of the 535 Massachusetts systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.7 ppb; 13 are over 15 ppb right now and 66 have gone over at some point. Barnstable County Jail's 1.4 ppb sits at the 42nd percentile in Massachusetts and the 62nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Barnstable County
29 other systems share Barnstable County; 12 of them have a higher latest lead result than Barnstable County Jail. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Falmouth Water Dept | 97,551 | 1.1 ppb |
| Dennis Water District | 65,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Upper Cape Regional Water Cooperative | 56,250 | - |
| Centerville Osterville Marstons Mills Wd | 50,000 | 1.82 ppb |
| Harwich Water Department | 39,144 | 0 (not detected) |
| Yarmouth Water Department | 38,900 | 1.5 ppb |
| Mashpee Water District | 36,922 | 1.4 ppb |
| Hyannis Water System, Town Of Barnstable | 35,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Brewster Water Department | 35,000 | 3.4 ppb |
| Chatham Water Department | 30,000 | 1.05 ppb |
Next steps for Bourne, MA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Bourne, MA 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 Barnstable County Jail 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.