Big Bend Water Authority, FL
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.7 ppb (monitoring period 2025-2025). 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.
Big Bend Water Authority at a glance
Big Bend Water Authority serves about 2,700 people through 1,800 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 surface water, in Taylor County, Florida. EPA system ID: FL2621102; phone on file: 352-498-3576. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2022 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Big Bend Water Authority is 1.6 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.7 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 1.6 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 1,481 Florida systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 3 are over 15 ppb right now and 85 have gone over at some point. Big Bend Water Authority's 0.7 ppb sits at the 39th percentile in Florida and the 47th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Taylor County
2 other systems share Taylor County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Big Bend Water Authority. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| City Of Perry | 7,281 | 4.5 ppb |
| Taylor Coastal Water ; Sewer District | 1,310 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Steinhatchee, FL 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 Big Bend Water Authority 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.