Liberty Hill, RI
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.5 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2023). 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
Liberty Hill serves about 48 people through 24 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Washington County, Rhode Island. EPA system ID: RI2980481; phone on file: 401-575-0386. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2022 (0.9 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Liberty Hill is 4.6 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.5 ppb |
| 2022 | 0.9 ppb |
| 2022 | 4.6 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.4 ppb |
| 2021 | 1.9 ppb |
| 2020 | 0.8 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 78 Rhode Island systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.1 ppb; 6 are over 15 ppb right now and 17 have gone over at some point. Liberty Hill's 1.5 ppb sits at the 58th percentile in Rhode Island and the 63rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
32 other systems share Washington County; 12 of them have a higher latest lead result than Liberty Hill. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Westerly Water Department | 35,298 | 3.6 ppb |
| North Kingstown Town Of | 27,732 | 1.3 ppb |
| Veolia Water Wakefield Rhode Island Inc | 21,225 | 3.2 ppb |
| University Of Rhode Island | 19,354 | 6.4 ppb |
| Block Island Water Company | 9,999 | 0 (not detected) |
| Narragansett Water System-Point Judith | 8,210 | 4.1 ppb |
| South Kingstown-South Shore | 6,170 | 1 ppb |
| Narragansett Water Dept-North End | 4,432 | 1.2 ppb |
| Kingston Water District | 3,968 | 1 ppb |
| Richmond, Town Of | 2,671 | 0.3 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Exeter, RI 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 Liberty Hill 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.