Fernwood Ws, CA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 7 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.
Who runs the water here
Fernwood Ws serves about 33 people through 13 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws surface water, in Monterey County, California. EPA system ID: CA2702325; phone on file: 831-667-2422. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Fernwood Ws's lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (6.5 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Fernwood Ws is 7 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 7 ppb |
| 2021 | 6.5 ppb |
| 2020 | 2.5 ppb |
| 2018 | 2 ppb |
How Fernwood Ws compares
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. Fernwood Ws's 7 ppb sits at the 95th percentile in California and the 94th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
155 other systems share Monterey County; 7 of them have a higher latest lead result than Fernwood Ws. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Cal Am Water Company - Monterey | 128,928 | 1 ppb |
| Cwsc Salinas | 114,286 | 1.2 ppb |
| Alco Water Service | 56,253 | 0 (not detected) |
| Marina Coast Water District | 38,918 | 0 (not detected) |
| Soledad, City Of | 19,732 | 0 (not detected) |
| Greenfield, City Of | 18,967 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cwsc King City | 14,046 | 0 (not detected) |
| Gonzales, City Of | 8,333 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cwsc Salinas Hills | 7,733 | 0.9 ppb |
| Castroville Community Services District | 7,515 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Big Sur, CA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Big Sur, 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 Fernwood Ws 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.