Columbia Rim Water System, WA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 ppb (monitoring period 2021-2023). 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
Columbia Rim Water System serves about 77 people through 49 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Klickitat County, Washington. EPA system ID: WA5314169. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2020 (1.9 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Columbia Rim Water System is 8.4 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 2 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.9 ppb |
| 2016 | 8.4 ppb |
Against other Washington systems
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. Columbia Rim Water System's 2 ppb sits at the 68th percentile in Washington and the 70th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
22 other systems share Klickitat County; 4 of them have a higher latest lead result than Columbia Rim Water System. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Goldendale City Of | 4,314 | 1.8 ppb |
| White Salmon City Of | 4,077 | 5.3 ppb |
| Bingen Water Dept | 1,758 | 0 (not detected) |
| Glacier Springs Water Assn | 992 | 4.2 ppb |
| Lyle Water System | 938 | 1 ppb |
| Glenwood Water System | 629 | 1 ppb |
| Wishram Water System | 599 | 1 ppb |
| Dallesport Water District | 598 | 0 (not detected) |
| Klickitat Water System | 551 | 6 ppb |
| Ponderosa Park Water System | 381 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Yakima, WA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Yakima, 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 Columbia Rim 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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.