Methow Water System Inc, WA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.4 ppb (monitoring period 2021-2023). 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
Methow Water System Inc serves about 45 people through 27 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Okanogan County, Washington. EPA system ID: WA5354370. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Every lead result on file
That is down 2.9 ppb from 4.3 ppb in the period ending 2020. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Methow Water System Inc is 4.3 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.4 ppb |
| 2020 | 4.3 ppb |
| 2017 | 2.7 ppb |
Against other Washington systems
Of the 2,218 Washington systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 18 are over 15 ppb right now and 62 have gone over at some point. Methow Water System Inc's 1.4 ppb sits at the 57th percentile in Washington and the 61st nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Okanogan County
42 other systems share Okanogan County; 12 of them have a higher latest lead result than Methow Water System Inc. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Omak City Of | 4,940 | 3 ppb |
| Brewster City Of | 3,843 | 1.7 ppb |
| Okanogan Water Department City Of | 3,817 | 1.4 ppb |
| Oroville City Of | 3,256 | 3.2 ppb |
| Tonasket Water System | 2,398 | 0 (not detected) |
| Coulee Dam Water Dept | 1,454 | 1.7 ppb |
| Winthrop Town Of | 1,350 | 1 ppb |
| Twisp Town Of | 1,173 | 1.1 ppb |
| Monse-Riggan Camp | 1,165 | 0 (not detected) |
| Pateros Water Department | 1,149 | 2.8 ppb |
Next steps for Methow, WA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Methow, WA 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 Methow Water System Inc 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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.