Bear Paw Water System, TX
Above the federal action level
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 15.1 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. In the most recent monitoring period, more than 10% of the sampled homes measured above 15 ppb. Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead for drinking and cooking now, and test your own tap.
About Bear Paw Water System
Bear Paw Water System serves about 429 people through 143 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Kerr County, Texas. EPA system ID: TX1330126; phone on file: 512-990-4400. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
That is up 12.5 ppb from 2.6 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Bear Paw Water System is 15.1 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 15.1 ppb over 15 |
| 2025 | 2.6 ppb |
| 2024 | 1.3 ppb |
How Bear Paw Water System compares
Of the 4,447 Texas systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0.28 ppb; 15 are over 15 ppb right now and 202 have gone over at some point. Bear Paw Water System's 15.1 ppb sits at the 100th percentile in Texas and the 99th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
66 other systems share Kerr County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Bear Paw Water System. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| City Of Kerrville | 30,530 | 3.34 ppb |
| Ingram Water Supply | 5,955 | 1.1 ppb |
| Loma Vista Water System | 3,720 | 1.8 ppb |
| Four Seasons | 1,059 | 0 (not detected) |
| Southern Hills | 1,005 | 1.9 ppb |
| Kerrville Va Hospital | 1,000 | 2.24 ppb |
| Erlund Subdivision | 821 | 0.7 ppb |
| Guadalupe Heights Utility | 678 | 1.3 ppb |
| Ingram Oaks Retirement Community | 669 | 0 (not detected) |
| Oak Forest South Water Supply | 648 | 1.2 ppb |
Next steps for Austin, TX
Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead on the tap you drink and cook from, now, before you test. Then test your own tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Bear Paw Water System 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.