Hope Water Department, IN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 4.26 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
Hope Water Department serves about 2,113 people through 887 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 Bartholomew County, Indiana. EPA system ID: IN5203006; phone on file: 812-546-5469. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Every lead result on file
The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Hope Water Department is 4.26 ppb across 1 monitoring period, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 4.26 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 687 Indiana systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.31 ppb; 6 are over 15 ppb right now and 36 have gone over at some point. Hope Water Department's 4.26 ppb sits at the 86th percentile in Indiana and the 89th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
4 other systems share Bartholomew County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Hope Water Department. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Columbus Municipal Utility | 51,122 | 2.74 ppb |
| Eastern Bartholomew Water | 13,547 | 1.55 ppb |
| Southwestern Bartholomew Water Corp. | 8,652 | 1.43 ppb |
| Davis Mobile Home Park | 35 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Hope, IN
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Hope, IN 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 Hope 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.