Carlsbad Municipal Water System, NM
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.73 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.
Carlsbad Municipal Water System at a glance
Carlsbad Municipal Water System serves about 33,626 people through 12,408 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 Eddy County, New Mexico. EPA system ID: NM3520608; phone on file: 575-885-6313. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
That is down 1.07 ppb from 1.8 ppb in the period ending 2021. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Carlsbad Municipal Water System is 1.8 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 0.73 ppb |
| 2021 | 1.8 ppb |
| 2018 | 1.6 ppb |
How Carlsbad Municipal Water System compares
Of the 504 New Mexico systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.4 ppb; 14 are over 15 ppb right now and 46 have gone over at some point. Carlsbad Municipal Water System's 0.73 ppb sits at the 33rd percentile in New Mexico and the 47th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
13 other systems share Eddy County; 9 of them have a higher latest lead result than Carlsbad Municipal Water System. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Artesia Municipal Water System | 15,176 | 1.4 ppb |
| Otis Mdwca | 4,464 | 3 ppb |
| Artesia Rural Water Cooperative | 1,950 | 0.99 ppb |
| Loving Water System | 1,862 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cottonwood Water Mdwca | 1,781 | 2 ppb |
| Malaga Mdwc Swa | 868 | 1 ppb |
| Happy Valley Cooperative Water Works | 638 | 2.6 ppb |
| Morningside Water Users Cooperative | 348 | - |
| Hope Water System | 245 | 0 (not detected) |
| Riverside Mdwa | 227 | 17.9 ppb |
Next steps for Carlsbad, NM
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Carlsbad, NM 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 Carlsbad Municipal 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.