Howard County D.P.W. Distribution, MD
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3 ppb (monitoring period 2018-2020). 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
Howard County D.P.W. Distribution serves about 286,158 people through 79,084 service connections, which makes it a very large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Howard County, Maryland. EPA system ID: MD0130002; phone on file: 410-313-4974. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Howard County D.P.W. Distribution's lead record
That is up 3 ppb from 0 ppb in the period ending 2017. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Howard County D.P.W. Distribution is 3 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 3 ppb |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
Where this result ranks
Of the 437 Maryland systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 3 are over 15 ppb right now and 21 have gone over at some point. Howard County D.P.W. Distribution's 3 ppb sits at the 84th percentile in Maryland and the 83rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Howard County
3 other systems share Howard County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Howard County D.P.W. Distribution. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Lutheran Village At Miller'S Grant | 315 | 0 (not detected) |
| Villas At Cattail Creek | 170 | 1.8 ppb |
| Lighthouse Senior Living Ellicott City | 113 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Columbia, MD 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 Howard County D.P.W. Distribution 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.