Fairbury, City Of, NE
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.85 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.
Fairbury, City Of at a glance
Fairbury, City Of serves about 3,707 people through 1,931 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Jefferson County, Nebraska. EPA system ID: NE3109507; phone on file: 402-587-1456. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Fairbury, City Of's lead record
Against the period ending 2024 (1.8 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Fairbury, City Of is 10.7 ppb across 11 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (1 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.85 ppb |
| 2024 | 1.8 ppb |
| 2023 | 1.3 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.75 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.64 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.4 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.21 ppb |
| 2020 | 2.18 ppb |
| 2020 | 2.84 ppb |
| 2017 | 10.7 ppb over 10 |
| 2016 | 6.88 ppb |
Against other Nebraska systems
Of the 576 Nebraska systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.55 ppb; 7 are over 15 ppb right now and 29 have gone over at some point. Fairbury, City Of's 1.85 ppb sits at the 57th percentile in Nebraska and the 68th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
9 other systems share Jefferson County; 5 of them have a higher latest lead result than Fairbury, City Of. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Little Blue Nrd Rwd 1 | 1,580 | 1.38 ppb |
| Plymouth, Village Of | 400 | 2.91 ppb |
| Diller, Village Of | 269 | 1.8 ppb |
| Daykin, Village Of | 153 | 0 (not detected) |
| Endicott, Village Of | 132 | 3.4 ppb |
| Jansen, Village Of | 99 | 1.25 ppb |
| Harbine, Village Of | 65 | 3.45 ppb |
| Reynolds, Village Of | 60 | 3.29 ppb |
| Steele City, Village Of | 60 | 13.5 ppb |
Next steps for Fairbury, NE
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Fairbury, NE 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 Fairbury, City Of whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1360 ppb (copper action level 1,300 ppb).
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.