Benwood Water Department, WV
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.69 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2025). 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
Benwood Water Department serves about 1,510 people through 595 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Marshall County, West Virginia. EPA system ID: WV3302618; phone on file: 304-232-4320. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Benwood Water Department's lead record
That is down 1.31 ppb from 2 ppb in the period ending 2022. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Benwood Water Department is 3.2 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.69 ppb |
| 2022 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 3.2 ppb |
| 2016 | 1.1 ppb |
How Benwood Water Department compares
Of the 408 West Virginia systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0.9 ppb; 4 are over 15 ppb right now and 20 have gone over at some point. Benwood Water Department's 0.69 ppb sits at the 42nd percentile in West Virginia and the 46th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
8 other systems share Marshall County; 5 of them have a higher latest lead result than Benwood Water Department. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Moundsville | 9,911 | 0.64 ppb |
| Marshall County Psd 4 | 4,063 | 3.1 ppb |
| Marshall County Psd 1 | 3,463 | 0 (not detected) |
| Marshall County Psd 3 | 2,694 | 0.62 ppb |
| Glen Dale Water Works | 2,495 | 1.3 ppb |
| Mcmechen Municipal Water | 2,212 | 1 ppb |
| Marshall County Psd 2 | 1,601 | 2 ppb |
| Cameron Water | 962 | 5.6 ppb |
Next steps for Benwood, WV
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Benwood, WV 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 Benwood 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.