Liberty Mdwca, NM
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.55 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2024). 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 Mdwca serves about 266 people through 99 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 Quay County, New Mexico. EPA system ID: NM3510020; phone on file: 575-815-9015. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2018 (0.78 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Liberty Mdwca is 0.78 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 0.55 ppb |
| 2018 | 0.78 ppb |
Against other New Mexico systems
Of the 504 New Mexico systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.4 ppb; 14 are over 15 ppb right now and 46 have gone over at some point. Liberty Mdwca's 0.55 ppb sits at the 28th percentile in New Mexico and the 44th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
7 other systems share Quay County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Liberty Mdwca. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Tucumcari Water System | 6,064 | 2 ppb |
| Logan Water System | 2,321 | - |
| Rad Water Users Coop | 641 | 0 (not detected) |
| San Jon Water Supply | 360 | 2 ppb |
| Hills Village Water System | 126 | 0 (not detected) |
| House Water System | 84 | - |
| Nara Visa Mdwca | 59 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Tucumcari, NM 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 Mdwca 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.