Barron Light & Water Dept, WI
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.6 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2023). 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.
Who runs the water here
Barron Light & Water Dept serves about 3,423 people through 1,364 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 Barron County, Wisconsin. EPA system ID: WI6030125. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Barron Light & Water Dept's lead record
Against the period ending 2020 (1.6 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Barron Light & Water Dept is 3.1 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.6 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.6 ppb |
| 2017 | 3.1 ppb |
How Barron Light & Water Dept compares
Of the 947 Wisconsin systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.33 ppb; 6 are over 15 ppb right now and 71 have gone over at some point. Barron Light & Water Dept's 1.6 ppb sits at the 55th percentile in Wisconsin and the 65th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
13 other systems share Barron County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Barron Light & Water Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Rice Lake Waterworks | 9,012 | 0.99 ppb |
| Cumberland Waterworks | 2,311 | 1.2 ppb |
| Chetek Waterworks | 1,931 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cameron Waterworks | 1,787 | 1.6 ppb |
| Turtle Lake Waterworks | 1,073 | 1.8 ppb |
| Almena Waterworks | 705 | 0 (not detected) |
| Dallas Waterworks | 365 | 0 (not detected) |
| Haugen Waterworks | 287 | 0.8 ppb |
| Andersons Trailer Court | 95 | 0 (not detected) |
| Red Cedar Valley Estates Mhp | 80 | 0.88 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Barron, WI 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 Barron Light & Water Dept 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.