Desert Water Agency, CA
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (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. The latest 90th-percentile result was reported as 0 (not detected at the lab's limit). That says the sampled homes were low, not that your home has no lead service line. Check your utility's service line inventory for your address.
Who runs the water here
Desert Water Agency serves about 75,588 people through 24,068 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 surface water, in Riverside County, California. EPA system ID: CA3310005; phone on file: 760-323-4971. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Desert Water Agency's lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Desert Water Agency is 0 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 0 (not detected) |
Against other California systems
Of the 2,884 California systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 30 are over 15 ppb right now and 215 have gone over at some point. Desert Water Agency's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 61st percentile in California and the 40th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Nearby utilities
92 other systems share Riverside County; 33 of them have a higher latest lead result than Desert Water Agency. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern Municipal Wd | 659,923 | 2.8 ppb |
| Riverside, City Of | 302,776 | 1 ppb |
| Coachella Vwd: Cove Community | 270,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Elsinore Valley Mwd | 169,455 | 1.3 ppb |
| Corona, City Of | 169,380 | 1.8 ppb |
| Rancho California Water District | 146,147 | 0 (not detected) |
| Jurupa Community Sd | 134,638 | 0 (not detected) |
| Indio Water Authority | 89,137 | 0 (not detected) |
| Western Mwd | 87,955 | 1.3 ppb |
| Beaumont Cherry Valley Wd | 66,841 | 7.8 ppb |
Your move
Look up your address in Desert Water Agency's service line inventory. If it says lead, galvanized or unknown, test your tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Desert Water Agency 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. Small systems behave differently: why small systems go over more often.