Kotzebue Mun. Water System, AK
Above the federal action level
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 45 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. In the most recent monitoring period, more than 10% of the sampled homes measured above 15 ppb. Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead for drinking and cooking now, and test your own tap.
Who runs the water here
Kotzebue Mun. Water System serves about 3,234 people through 777 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a Native American tribe and draws surface water, in Northwest Arctic Borough County, Alaska. EPA system ID: AK2340060; phone on file: 907-442-5209. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
That is up 37.5 ppb from 7.5 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Kotzebue Mun. Water System is 45 ppb across 11 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 45 ppb over 15 |
| 2025 | 7.5 ppb |
| 2024 | 3.7 ppb |
| 2023 | 7.3 ppb |
| 2023 | 5.4 ppb |
| 2022 | 6.1 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.3 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.7 ppb |
| 2019 | 3.2 ppb |
| 2019 | 3.58 ppb |
| 2018 | 6.1 ppb |
How Kotzebue Mun. Water System compares
Of the 394 Alaska systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.6 ppb; 3 are over 15 ppb right now and 53 have gone over at some point. Kotzebue Mun. Water System's 45 ppb sits at the 100th percentile in Alaska and the 100th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
10 other systems share Northwest Arctic Borough County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Kotzebue Mun. Water System. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Selawik Safewater Facility | 846 | 1.7 ppb |
| Noorvik Water System | 735 | 2.06 ppb |
| Buckland Water System | 600 | 2.2 ppb |
| Noatak Community Water System | 485 | 0.25 ppb |
| Kiana Water System | 455 | 0.52 ppb |
| Kivalina Water System | 452 | 0 (not detected) |
| Shungnak Water System | 299 | 2.5 ppb |
| Ambler Community Water System | 261 | 1.08 ppb |
| Deering Utility System | 160 | 5.4 ppb |
| Kobuk Water System | 93 | 2.65 ppb |
What to do in your house
Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead on the tap you drink and cook from, now, before you test. Then test your own tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Kotzebue Mun. Water System whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1400 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.