Cape Girardeau Pws, MO
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3.57 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.
Cape Girardeau Pws at a glance
Cape Girardeau Pws serves about 39,941 people through 17,002 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. EPA system ID: MO4010136; phone on file: 573-450-3396. 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 (4.45 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Cape Girardeau Pws is 5.01 ppb across 9 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 3.57 ppb |
| 2022 | 4.45 ppb |
| 2021 | 4.45 ppb |
| 2021 | 4.45 ppb |
| 2021 | 5.01 ppb |
| 2019 | 2.66 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.66 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.66 ppb |
| 2016 | 1.45 ppb |
Against other Missouri systems
Of the 1,674 Missouri systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.04 ppb; 2 are over 15 ppb right now and 74 have gone over at some point. Cape Girardeau Pws's 3.57 ppb sits at the 86th percentile in Missouri and the 85th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Cape Girardeau County
20 other systems share Cape Girardeau County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than Cape Girardeau Pws. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Jackson Pws | 15,000 | 1.03 ppb |
| Cape Perry County Pwsd 1 South | 8,545 | 2.32 ppb |
| Cape Girardeau County Pwsd 2 | 2,913 | 5.09 ppb |
| Cape Girardeau County Pwsd 4 | 1,743 | 1.1 ppb |
| Hillcrest Utility Operating Company Inc | 700 | 1.8 ppb |
| Cape Girardeau County Pwsd 5 | 485 | 0.93 ppb |
| Delta Pws | 480 | 2.29 ppb |
| Parkwood Estates Llc | 350 | 2.16 ppb |
| Whitewater Allenville Pws | 200 | 2.33 ppb |
| Windwood Estates Subd | 170 | 0.53 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Cape Girardeau, MO 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 Cape Girardeau Pws 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.