Ithaca Town Wd, NY
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 8.8 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
Ithaca Town Wd serves about 13,000 people through 2,312 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 Tompkins County, New York. EPA system ID: NY5404419. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Ithaca Town Wd's lead record
That is up 6.4 ppb from 2.4 ppb in the period ending 2020. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Ithaca Town Wd is 8.8 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 8.8 ppb |
| 2020 | 2.4 ppb |
| 2017 | 0.48 ppb |
How Ithaca Town Wd compares
Of the 2,077 New York systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.5 ppb; 17 are over 15 ppb right now and 165 have gone over at some point. Ithaca Town Wd's 8.8 ppb sits at the 95th percentile in New York and the 96th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
49 other systems share Tompkins County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than Ithaca Town Wd. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Cornell University | 31,581 | 2.4 ppb |
| Ithaca City | 29,457 | 2.4 ppb |
| Cayuga Heights Village | 3,170 | 0.48 ppb |
| Lansing (V) | 3,100 | 0.48 ppb |
| Lansing (T) Consolidated Wd | 3,000 | 0.48 ppb |
| Groton Village | 2,470 | 2 ppb |
| Trumansburg Village | 2,300 | 2.8 ppb |
| Newfield Wds | 2,300 | 9 ppb |
| Dryden Village | 2,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Dryden Wd | 725 | 0.48 ppb |
Next steps for Ithaca, NY
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Ithaca, NY 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 Ithaca Town Wd 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.