Hoquiam Water Department, WA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.2 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
Hoquiam Water Department serves about 11,456 people through 3,879 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Grays Harbor County, Washington. EPA system ID: WA5334350. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Hoquiam Water Department's lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Hoquiam Water Department is 2.8 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 1.2 ppb |
| 2021 | 2 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.8 ppb |
How Hoquiam Water Department compares
Of the 2,218 Washington systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 18 are over 15 ppb right now and 62 have gone over at some point. Hoquiam Water Department's 1.2 ppb sits at the 55th percentile in Washington and the 59th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Grays Harbor County
34 other systems share Grays Harbor County; 19 of them have a higher latest lead result than Hoquiam Water Department. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen City Of | 22,867 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ocean Shores Water Dept | 9,347 | 0 (not detected) |
| Elma City Of | 6,638 | 1.4 ppb |
| Montesano City Of | 6,204 | 3.6 ppb |
| Westport Water Department | 5,346 | 2.9 ppb |
| Grays Harbor Co Water Dist 2 | 5,112 | 6.4 ppb |
| Mccleary City Of | 2,753 | 2 ppb |
| Pacific Beach/Moclips | 2,372 | 2.1 ppb |
| Cosmopolis Water Department | 1,812 | 1.2 ppb |
| Hogans Corner | 1,458 | 7 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Hoquiam, WA 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 Hoquiam 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.