Mena Water Department, AR
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 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.
Mena Water Department at a glance
Mena Water Department serves about 5,604 people through 3,798 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 surface water, in Polk County, Arkansas. EPA system ID: AR0000438; phone on file: 479-394-2761. 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 2022 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Mena Water Department is 3 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 ppb |
| 2022 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2016 | 3 ppb |
How Mena Water Department 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. Mena Water Department's 2 ppb sits at the 69th percentile in Arkansas and the 72nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
7 other systems share Polk County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Mena Water Department. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Wickes Waterworks | 2,014 | - |
| Acorn Rural Water Assn | 1,975 | - |
| Freedom Public Water Authority | 1,935 | - |
| Cove Waterworks | 651 | - |
| Hatfield Waterworks | 641 | - |
| Grannis Waterworks | 548 | - |
| Gillham Regional Water Dist | 3 | - |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Mena, 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 Mena Water Department 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.