Better Waterworks Water System, LA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2024). 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.
About Better Waterworks Water System
Better Waterworks Water System serves about 2,160 people through 720 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Ouachita Parish County, Louisiana. EPA system ID: LA1073003; phone on file: 318-343-6851. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2021 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Better Waterworks Water System is 3 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 ppb |
| 2021 | 2 ppb |
| 2018 | 3 ppb |
| 2017 | 2 ppb |
Against other Louisiana systems
Of the 802 Louisiana systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0.72 ppb; 4 are over 15 ppb right now and 30 have gone over at some point. Better Waterworks Water System's 1 ppb sits at the 60th percentile in Louisiana and the 54th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
22 other systems share Ouachita Parish County; 8 of them have a higher latest lead result than Better Waterworks 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 Monroe Water System | 57,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| City Of West Monroe Water System | 16,005 | 1 ppb |
| Gowc West Hwy 80 Ark Road Ws | 14,649 | 2 ppb |
| Gowc North Water System | 13,287 | 1 ppb |
| Gowc East Water System | 11,742 | 1 ppb |
| Cheniere Drew North Water System | 11,280 | 0 (not detected) |
| Southwest Ouachita Waterworks, Inc | 10,725 | 3 ppb |
| Gowc Brownville Water System | 9,696 | 3 ppb |
| Gowc Kiroli Darbonne Ws | 9,210 | 0 (not detected) |
| Gowc South Monroe Ws | 7,335 | 2 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; West Monroe, LA 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 Better Waterworks 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.