Barnstable Fire District, MA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.35 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2026). 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.
Who runs the water here
Barnstable Fire District serves about 5,400 people through 1,998 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 groundwater, in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. EPA system ID: MA4020000; phone on file: 5083626498. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2024 (2.2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Barnstable Fire District is 8 ppb across 7 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.35 ppb |
| 2024 | 2.2 ppb |
| 2023 | 2 ppb |
| 2023 | 2.2 ppb |
| 2020 | 5 ppb |
| 2018 | 1.7 ppb |
| 2017 | 8 ppb |
How Barnstable Fire District compares
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 Fire District's 1.35 ppb sits at the 42nd percentile in Massachusetts and the 61st nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Barnstable County
29 other systems share Barnstable County; 14 of them have a higher latest lead result than Barnstable Fire District. 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 |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Barnstable, 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 Fire District 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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.