Chefornak Water System, AK
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2025). 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.
About Chefornak Water System
Chefornak Water System serves about 513 people through 7 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a Native American tribe and draws groundwater, in Bethel Census Area County, Alaska. EPA system ID: AK2270338; phone on file: 907-867-8147. 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 2022 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Chefornak Water System is 4.9 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 3.5 ppb |
| 2016 | 4.9 ppb |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
Against other Alaska systems
Of the 394 Alaska systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.6 ppb; 3 are over 15 ppb right now and 53 have gone over at some point. Chefornak Water System's 1 ppb sits at the 39th percentile in Alaska and the 53rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
34 other systems share Bethel Census Area County; 27 of them have a higher latest lead result than Chefornak Water System. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Bethel Heights Water System | 2,228 | 3.57 ppb |
| Bethel-City S/D Water | 1,660 | 0 (not detected) |
| Kwethluk New Piped Water System | 760 | 2 ppb |
| Quinhagak Water System | 724 | 0.75 ppb |
| Toksook Bay Water System | 661 | 5.6 ppb |
| Kipnuk Water System | 639 | 1 ppb |
| Akiachak Water System | 627 | 6.2 ppb |
| Kongiganak Water System | 547 | 4.5 ppb |
| Nunapitchuk Water System | 496 | 4.6 ppb |
| Bethel Trailer Court | 446 | 2.2 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Chefornak, AK 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 Chefornak 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.