Malvern Waterworks, AR
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1 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.
Who runs the water here
Malvern Waterworks serves about 14,410 people through 4,298 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 Hot Spring County, Arkansas. EPA system ID: AR0000237; phone on file: 501-332-2171. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Malvern Waterworks's lead record
Against the period ending 2022 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Malvern Waterworks is 1 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 ppb |
| 2022 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2016 | 1 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 190 Arkansas systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 15 are over 15 ppb right now and 19 have gone over at some point. Malvern Waterworks's 1 ppb sits at the 48th percentile in Arkansas and the 55th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
3 other systems share Hot Spring County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Malvern Waterworks. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Kimzey Regional Water District | 12,718 | 1 ppb |
| Hot Spring Co Water Assoc | 3,528 | 1 ppb |
| Magnet-Butterfield Water Authority | 1,950 | - |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Malvern, AR 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 Malvern Waterworks 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.