Monterey Water Company Inc., NM
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.4 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2026). 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.
Monterey Water Company Inc. at a glance
Monterey Water Company Inc. serves about 1,472 people through 520 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Valencia County, New Mexico. EPA system ID: NM3509032; phone on file: 575-744-5974. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
That is up 1.4 ppb from 0 ppb in the period ending 2016. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Monterey Water Company Inc. is 1.4 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.4 ppb |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
Where this result ranks
Of the 504 New Mexico systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.4 ppb; 14 are over 15 ppb right now and 46 have gone over at some point. Monterey Water Company Inc.'s 1.4 ppb sits at the 51st percentile in New Mexico and the 62nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
16 other systems share Valencia County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than Monterey Water Company Inc.. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Los Lunas Water System | 19,400 | 5 ppb |
| Belen Water System | 10,830 | 0 (not detected) |
| Rio Communities Water System | 5,513 | 1.3 ppb |
| Rio Del Oro Water System | 4,387 | 0 (not detected) |
| Bosque Farms Water Supply System | 4,367 | 1 ppb |
| Meadow Lake Water System | 2,760 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hi Mesa Water System | 259 | 0 (not detected) |
| Correo Water Association | 201 | 1.3 ppb |
| Bosque Gardens Mdwca | 141 | 2.2 ppb |
| Trails End Mhp | 112 | 3.4 ppb |
Next steps for Elephant Butte, NM
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Elephant Butte, NM 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 Monterey Water Company 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.