Hines Water Department, OR
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.62 ppb (monitoring period 2021-2023). 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
Hines Water Department serves about 1,645 people through 635 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 Harney County, Oregon. EPA system ID: OR4100382; phone on file: 541-573-2251. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2020 (1.11 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Hines Water Department is 4.16 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.62 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.11 ppb |
| 2017 | 4.16 ppb |
Against other Oregon systems
Of the 909 Oregon systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 15 are over 15 ppb right now and 71 have gone over at some point. Hines Water Department's 1.62 ppb sits at the 62nd percentile in Oregon and the 65th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
3 other systems share Harney County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Hines Water Department. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Burns Water Department | 2,730 | 1.49 ppb |
| Gh2o Inc | 120 | 0 (not detected) |
| Highland Ranch Estates | 60 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Hines, OR
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Hines, OR 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 Hines 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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.