Gates Water Department, TN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.4 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2028). 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.
Gates Water Department at a glance
Gates Water Department serves about 670 people through 280 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Lauderdale County, Tennessee. EPA system ID: TN0000255; phone on file: 731-836-7501. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Gates Water Department's lead record
That is down 3.47 ppb from 4.87 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Gates Water Department is 4.87 ppb across 7 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2028 | 1.4 ppb |
| 2025 | 4.87 ppb |
| 2022 | 1 ppb |
| 2021 | 1 ppb |
| 2021 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 0.5 ppb |
| 2016 | 1.64 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 453 Tennessee systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 0 are over 15 ppb right now and 10 have gone over at some point. Gates Water Department's 1.4 ppb sits at the 80th percentile in Tennessee and the 62nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Lauderdale County
5 other systems share Lauderdale County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Gates Water Department. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Lauderdale Co Water System | 9,092 | 2.59 ppb |
| Ripley Water System | 8,030 | 1 ppb |
| Halls Water System | 5,287 | 0.8 ppb |
| West Tn State Penitentiary | 3,250 | 1.1 ppb |
| Henning Water Department | 1,071 | 0.4 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Gates, TN 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 Gates Water Department 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. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.