Kaw City Water Authority, OK
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2.6 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2026). 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.
About Kaw City Water Authority
Kaw City Water Authority serves about 372 people through 472 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Kay County, Oklahoma. EPA system ID: OK2003605; phone on file: 580-269-2525. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Kaw City Water Authority's lead record
Against the period ending 2025 (1.6 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Kaw City Water Authority is 6.8 ppb across 19 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 2.6 ppb |
| 2025 | 1.6 ppb |
| 2025 | 2.7 ppb |
| 2024 | 3.1 ppb |
| 2024 | 6.8 ppb |
| 2023 | 2.4 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 5.6 ppb |
| 2021 | 5 ppb |
| 2021 | 5.1 ppb |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
How Kaw City Water Authority compares
Of the 870 Oklahoma systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0.81 ppb; 6 are over 15 ppb right now and 66 have gone over at some point. Kaw City Water Authority's 2.6 ppb sits at the 80th percentile in Oklahoma and the 78th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Kay County
11 other systems share Kay County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Kaw City Water Authority. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Ponca City Mun Water | 27,155 | 0 (not detected) |
| Blackwell Municipal Authority | 7,668 | 0 (not detected) |
| Tonkawa | 3,299 | 6.4 ppb |
| Newkirk | 2,243 | 0 (not detected) |
| Kay Co Rwd #1 | 1,765 | 0 (not detected) |
| Kay Co Rwd #3 | 1,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Kay County Rural Water District 7 | 920 | 0 (not detected) |
| Kay Co Rwd #5 (Dale Water Corp) | 765 | 0 (not detected) |
| Braman | 244 | 0 (not detected) |
| Kay County Rwd #2 | 50 | 4.6 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Kaw City, OK 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 Kaw City Water Authority whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 3654 ppb (copper action level 1,300 ppb).
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.