Lester Municipal Water Works, WV
Above the new 10 ppb level coming in 2027
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 14.1 ppb (monitoring period 2020-2022). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Under the current 15 ppb rule this is not an exceedance, but it is above the 10 ppb action level that takes over in Nov 2027. Test your own tap; filter if your result shows lead.
Who runs the water here
Lester Municipal Water Works serves about 665 people through 287 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Raleigh County, West Virginia. EPA system ID: WV3304115; phone on file: 304-934-6301. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
That is up 13.69 ppb from 0.41 ppb in the period ending 2019. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Lester Municipal Water Works is 14.1 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (1 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 14.1 ppb over 10 |
| 2019 | 0.41 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.51 ppb |
| 2016 | 1.12 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 408 West Virginia systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0.9 ppb; 4 are over 15 ppb right now and 20 have gone over at some point. Lester Municipal Water Works's 14.1 ppb sits at the 99th percentile in West Virginia and the 99th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Raleigh County
12 other systems share Raleigh County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Lester Municipal Water Works. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Beckley Water Company | 47,386 | 0.63 ppb |
| Raleigh County Psd Arnett | 6,663 | 0.76 ppb |
| Raleigh County Mem Airport | 4,587 | 7.3 ppb |
| Cool Ridge Flat Top Psd | 4,190 | 9.8 ppb |
| Raleigh County Psd Coal City | 3,415 | 0 (not detected) |
| Wvawc Glade Springs District | 1,747 | 0 (not detected) |
| Raleigh County Psd Clear Creek | 1,407 | 0.78 ppb |
| Raleigh County Psd Odd | 813 | 1.26 ppb |
| Raleigh County Psd Slab Fork | 550 | 0.83 ppb |
| Raleigh County Psd Pluto Bragg | 383 | 4.2 ppb |
Next steps for Lester, WV
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Lester, WV 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 Lester Municipal Water Works 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. This system is in the band the 2027 10 ppb rule changes.