Nelson Lagoon Water System, AK
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.1 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
Nelson Lagoon Water System serves about 60 people through 52 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a Native American tribe and draws surface water, in Aleutians East Borough County, Alaska. EPA system ID: AK2260804; phone on file: 907-989-2204. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Every lead result on file
That is down 5.9 ppb from 7 ppb in the period ending 2023. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Nelson Lagoon Water System is 7 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.1 ppb |
| 2023 | 7 ppb |
| 2020 | 0.54 ppb |
Against other Alaska systems
Of the 394 Alaska systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.6 ppb; 3 are over 15 ppb right now and 53 have gone over at some point. Nelson Lagoon Water System's 1.1 ppb sits at the 41st percentile in Alaska and the 56th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Aleutians East Borough County
5 other systems share Aleutians East Borough County; 4 of them have a higher latest lead result than Nelson Lagoon Water System. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| King Cove | 972 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sand Point Water System | 830 | 4.22 ppb |
| False Pass Treatment Plant | 393 | 2.1 ppb |
| Cold Bay | 182 | 3.5 ppb |
| Akutan | 95 | 1.6 ppb |
Next steps for Nelson Lagoon, AK
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Nelson Lagoon, AK 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 Nelson Lagoon Water System 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.