Downieville Public U.D., CA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.98 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.
Downieville Public U.D. at a glance
Downieville Public U.D. serves about 290 people through 234 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Sierra County, California. EPA system ID: CA4610002; phone on file: 530-615-6057. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Downieville Public U.D.'s lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (2.03 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Downieville Public U.D. is 2.03 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 1.98 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.03 ppb |
| 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. Downieville Public U.D.'s 1.98 ppb sits at the 78th percentile in California and the 69th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
7 other systems share Sierra County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Downieville Public U.D.. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| City Of Loyalton | 983 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sierra Csa #5, Sierra Brooks | 726 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sierra Water Resources - Sierra City | 324 | 1.72 ppb |
| Sierra City Water Works, Inc. | 250 | 1 ppb |
| Sierraville P.U.D. | 200 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sierra Co. W.W.D #1 Calpine | 182 | 0 (not detected) |
| Alleghany County W.D. | 82 | 3.76 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Downieville, CA 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 Downieville Public U.D. 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.