Eastern Bartholomew Water, IN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.55 ppb (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. 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.
About Eastern Bartholomew Water
Eastern Bartholomew Water serves about 13,547 people through 6,104 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 groundwater, in Bartholomew County, Indiana. EPA system ID: IN5203004; phone on file: 812-526-9777. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2024 (1.67 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Eastern Bartholomew Water is 2.9 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.55 ppb |
| 2024 | 1.67 ppb |
| 2023 | 1.48 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.6 ppb |
| 2017 | 2.9 ppb |
How Eastern Bartholomew Water compares
Of the 687 Indiana systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.31 ppb; 6 are over 15 ppb right now and 36 have gone over at some point. Eastern Bartholomew Water's 1.55 ppb sits at the 56th percentile in Indiana and the 64th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Bartholomew County
4 other systems share Bartholomew County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Eastern Bartholomew Water. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Columbus Municipal Utility | 51,122 | 2.74 ppb |
| Southwestern Bartholomew Water Corp. | 8,652 | 1.43 ppb |
| Hope Water Department | 2,113 | 4.26 ppb |
| Davis Mobile Home Park | 35 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Taylorsville, IN 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 Eastern Bartholomew Water 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.