Chewelah Water Dept South, WA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3.1 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.
Who runs the water here
Chewelah Water Dept South serves about 2,615 people through 1,251 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 groundwater, in Stevens County, Washington. EPA system ID: WA5312750. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Chewelah Water Dept South's lead record
That is up 2.1 ppb from 1 ppb in the period ending 2021. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Chewelah Water Dept South is 3.4 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 3.1 ppb |
| 2021 | 1 ppb |
| 2018 | 3.4 ppb |
How Chewelah Water Dept South compares
Of the 2,218 Washington systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 18 are over 15 ppb right now and 62 have gone over at some point. Chewelah Water Dept South's 3.1 ppb sits at the 82nd percentile in Washington and the 83rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Stevens County
32 other systems share Stevens County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Chewelah Water Dept South. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Stevens Co Pud - Suncrest | 7,484 | 1.4 ppb |
| Colville Water Department | 4,945 | 1.1 ppb |
| Stevens Co Pud - Deer Lake | 2,884 | 0 (not detected) |
| Kettle Falls Water Dept | 2,698 | 0 (not detected) |
| Stevens Co Pud - Loon Lake | 2,487 | 0 (not detected) |
| Stevens Co Pud - Waitts Lake | 1,216 | 0 (not detected) |
| Stevens Co Pud - Clayton | 725 | 0 (not detected) |
| Stevens Co Pud - Valley | 550 | 0 (not detected) |
| Chewelah Water Dept North | 350 | 1.4 ppb |
| Springdale Town Of | 315 | 0.7 ppb |
Next steps for Chewelah, WA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Chewelah, WA 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 Chewelah Water Dept South 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.