Erie City Water Authority, PA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.08 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.
Who runs the water here
Erie City Water Authority serves about 220,001 people through 63,820 service connections, which makes it a very large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Erie County, Pennsylvania. EPA system ID: PA6250028; phone on file: 814-870-8000. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Erie City Water Authority's lead record
Against the period ending 2022 (1.08 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Erie City Water Authority is 1.18 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.08 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.08 ppb |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 1.18 ppb |
Against other Pennsylvania systems
Of the 516 Pennsylvania systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 2 ppb; 143 are over 15 ppb right now and 156 have gone over at some point. Erie City Water Authority's 1.08 ppb sits at the 35th percentile in Pennsylvania and the 56th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
37 other systems share Erie County; 6 of them have a higher latest lead result than Erie City Water Authority. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Summit Township Water Authorit | 12,500 | 0.89 ppb |
| Municipal Authority Of Corry | 7,800 | 1.45 ppb |
| Edinboro Water Authority | 7,800 | 3.63 ppb |
| North East Township Water | 5,848 | 2.6 ppb |
| Albion Borough | 5,842 | 0.79 ppb |
| North East Borough Water Dept | 4,601 | 0 (not detected) |
| Fairview Twp Water District 1 | 4,500 | 0 (not detected) |
| Union City Municipal Authority | 4,295 | 1.53 ppb |
| Fairview Twp Water Auth Dist 3 | 3,320 | 0 (not detected) |
| Girard Boro Water Dept | 3,301 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Erie, PA 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 Erie City Water Authority 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.