El Salto Mdwca And Sa, NM
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 5 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2026). 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 El Salto Mdwca And Sa
El Salto Mdwca And Sa serves about 232 people through 96 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 groundwater, in Taos County, New Mexico. EPA system ID: NM3522329; phone on file: 575-779-8291. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
That is up 2 ppb from 3 ppb in the period ending 2023. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for El Salto Mdwca And Sa is 5 ppb across 7 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 5 ppb |
| 2023 | 3 ppb |
| 2022 | 3 ppb |
| 2020 | 4 ppb |
| 2019 | 4 ppb |
| 2017 | 3 ppb |
| 2016 | 3 ppb |
Against other New Mexico systems
Of the 504 New Mexico systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.4 ppb; 14 are over 15 ppb right now and 46 have gone over at some point. El Salto Mdwca And Sa's 5 ppb sits at the 86th percentile in New Mexico and the 91st nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Taos County
41 other systems share Taos County; 6 of them have a higher latest lead result than El Salto Mdwca And Sa. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Taos Municipal Water System | 5,528 | 5 ppb |
| Questa Water System | 2,337 | 3.3 ppb |
| El Prado Water & Sanitation District | 1,076 | 7 ppb |
| Village Of Taos Ski Valley | 1,025 | 2.6 ppb |
| Llano Quemado Mdwca | 800 | 2 ppb |
| Ranchos De Taos Mdwca | 750 | 2.7 ppb |
| Talpa Mdwca | 700 | 2.2 ppb |
| Red River Water System | 679 | - |
| Chamisal Mdwca | 550 | 1.7 ppb |
| Penasco Mdwca | 549 | 5.3 ppb |
Next steps for El Prado, NM
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; El Prado, NM 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 El Salto Mdwca And Sa 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.