Baxter Water Department, TN
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.
Who runs the water here
Baxter Water Department serves about 7,781 people through 3,283 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 Putnam County, Tennessee. EPA system ID: TN0000040; phone on file: 931-858-4111. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2025 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Baxter Water Department is 2.07 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 | 2.07 ppb |
| 2016 | 1 ppb |
How Baxter Water Department compares
Of the 453 Tennessee systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 0 are over 15 ppb right now and 10 have gone over at some point. Baxter Water Department's 1 ppb sits at the 51st percentile in Tennessee and the 55th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Putnam County
8 other systems share Putnam County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Baxter Water Department. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Cookeville Water Dept | 49,711 | 1 ppb |
| Algood Water System | 10,042 | 1 ppb |
| Cookeville Boat Dock Rd U.D. | 9,345 | 1 ppb |
| Bangham Utility District | 7,906 | 1 ppb |
| Double Springs U.D. | 6,698 | 1 ppb |
| Old Gainesboro Road U.D. | 6,608 | 1 ppb |
| Monterey Water Dept | 4,880 | 1 ppb |
| Heritage Academy | 100 | 1 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Baxter, TN 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 Baxter Water Department 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. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.