Bolivar-Richburg Water System, NY
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.2 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.
Bolivar-Richburg Water System at a glance
Bolivar-Richburg Water System serves about 1,640 people through 712 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 Allegany County, New York. EPA system ID: NY0200329. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Bolivar-Richburg Water System's lead record
Against the period ending 2024 (1.1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Bolivar-Richburg Water System is 5.3 ppb across 14 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.2 ppb |
| 2024 | 1.1 ppb |
| 2023 | 1.7 ppb |
| 2023 | 2.4 ppb |
| 2022 | 3.4 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.3 ppb |
| 2021 | 2 ppb |
| 2021 | 5.3 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.7 ppb |
| 2020 | 2.4 ppb |
| 2019 | 2.2 ppb |
| 2019 | 2.1 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.5 ppb |
| 2018 | 1.7 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 2,077 New York systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.5 ppb; 17 are over 15 ppb right now and 165 have gone over at some point. Bolivar-Richburg Water System's 1.2 ppb sits at the 42nd percentile in New York and the 59th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
20 other systems share Allegany County; 11 of them have a higher latest lead result than Bolivar-Richburg Water System. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Wellsville Village Public Water | 5,700 | 0 (not detected) |
| Alfred State College | 3,600 | 1 ppb |
| Alfred University | 2,800 | 3 ppb |
| Houghton Water District | 2,000 | 2 ppb |
| Cuba Village Public Water | 1,800 | 3.4 ppb |
| Friendship Town Water District | 1,380 | 0 (not detected) |
| Alfred Village Water Supply | 1,300 | 3 ppb |
| Andover Village Public Water | 1,130 | 3 ppb |
| Scio Water District | 990 | 1.7 ppb |
| Angelica Village Public Water | 950 | 7 ppb |
Next steps for New York
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; your state 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 Bolivar-Richburg Water System whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1500 ppb (copper action level 1,300 ppb).
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.