Cherokee, OK
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (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. The latest result is under the action level, but this system has gone over 15 ppb before. Lead comes from pipes, not the source water, so a home with a lead service line can still be exposed. Test your own tap.
About Cherokee
Cherokee serves about 1,630 people through 975 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 Alfalfa County, Oklahoma. EPA system ID: OK2000208; phone on file: 580-596-3052. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
That is down 7.4 ppb from 7.4 ppb in the period ending 2024. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Cherokee is 63.5 ppb across 14 monitoring periods, 2 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 7.4 ppb |
| 2023 | 2.2 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 5.2 ppb |
| 2017 | 63.5 ppb over 15 |
| 2017 | 8.9 ppb |
| 2016 | 15.4 ppb over 15 |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
Where this result ranks
Of the 870 Oklahoma systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0.81 ppb; 6 are over 15 ppb right now and 66 have gone over at some point. Cherokee's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 31st percentile in Oklahoma and the 29th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Neighbouring systems
8 other systems share Alfalfa County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Cherokee. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Alfalfa Co Rws & Swmd #1 North | 600 | 0 (not detected) |
| Alfalfa Co Rws & Swmd #1 | 550 | 4.9 ppb |
| Helena | 443 | 0 (not detected) |
| Carmen Public Works Authority | 355 | 0 (not detected) |
| Goltry | 268 | 0 (not detected) |
| Jet | 230 | 1.4 ppb |
| Aline, Town Of | 214 | 0 (not detected) |
| Burlington | 156 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Cherokee, OK 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 Cherokee 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. Why an old exceedance still matters: over the limit before, under it now.