Limestone Utility, MO
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 4.6 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2025). 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.
Limestone Utility at a glance
Limestone Utility serves about 308 people through 105 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Hardeman County, Missouri. EPA system ID: TN0000797; phone on file: 314-380-9498. 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 4.1 ppb from 0.5 ppb in the period ending 2022. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Limestone Utility is 4.6 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 4.6 ppb |
| 2022 | 0.5 ppb |
| 2019 | 0.5 ppb |
| 2016 | 0.85 ppb |
Against other Missouri systems
Of the 1,674 Missouri systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.04 ppb; 2 are over 15 ppb right now and 74 have gone over at some point. Limestone Utility's 4.6 ppb sits at the 90th percentile in Missouri and the 90th nationally (higher means more lead).
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Des Peres, MO 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 Limestone Utility 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.