Kutztown Borough Water, PA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3 ppb (monitoring period 2025-2025). 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 Kutztown Borough Water
Kutztown Borough Water serves about 14,200 people through 1,902 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 Berks County, Pennsylvania. EPA system ID: PA3060041; phone on file: 610-683-3202. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2022 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Kutztown Borough Water is 11 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (1 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 ppb |
| 2022 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 3 ppb |
| 2016 | 11 ppb over 10 |
Against other Pennsylvania systems
Of the 516 Pennsylvania systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 2 ppb; 143 are over 15 ppb right now and 156 have gone over at some point. Kutztown Borough Water's 3 ppb sits at the 60th percentile in Pennsylvania and the 83rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Berks County
71 other systems share Berks County; 8 of them have a higher latest lead result than Kutztown Borough Water. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Area Water Authority | 95,100 | 0 (not detected) |
| Paw Penn District | 28,508 | 3 ppb |
| Paw Glen Alsace Div | 24,951 | 1 ppb |
| Muhlenberg Twp Muni Auth | 22,400 | 1 ppb |
| Shillington Muni Auth | 13,300 | 0 (not detected) |
| Mt Penn Boro Muni Auth | 10,400 | 3.4 ppb |
| Wyomissing Boro Water System | 8,500 | 1 ppb |
| Boyertown Muni Auth | 8,000 | 3.7 ppb |
| Wernersville Muni Water Auth | 7,920 | 0 (not detected) |
| Maidencreek Twp Water Auth | 7,505 | 2 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Kutztown, PA 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 Kutztown Borough Water 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.