Mc Gehee 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.
Mc Gehee Waterworks at a glance
Mc Gehee Waterworks serves about 3,849 people through 2,366 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Desha County, Arkansas. EPA system ID: AR0000170; phone on file: 870-222-4114. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2022 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Mc Gehee Waterworks is 2 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 | 2 ppb |
How Mc Gehee Waterworks compares
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. Mc Gehee Waterworks's 1 ppb sits at the 11th percentile in Arkansas and the 54th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
9 other systems share Desha County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Mc Gehee Waterworks. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Dumas Waterworks | 6,338 | 4 ppb |
| Pendleton-Pea Ridge Water Assn | 845 | - |
| Kelso-Rohwer Water Association | 563 | - |
| Arkansas City Waterworks | 360 | - |
| Wkmm Rural Water Association | 310 | - |
| Mitchellville Waterworks | 293 | - |
| Reed Waterworks | 209 | - |
| Watson Waterworks | 166 | - |
| Pickens Waterworks | 49 | 17.6 ppb |
Next steps for Mcgehee, AR
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Mcgehee, 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 Mc Gehee 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. 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.