Northwest, FL
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.5 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2023). 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.
About Northwest
Northwest serves about 28,082 people through 10,698 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Polk County, Florida. EPA system ID: FL6532348; phone on file: 863-298-4235. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2020 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Northwest is 1.5 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.5 ppb |
| 2020 | 1 ppb |
| 2017 | 1.4 ppb |
How Northwest compares
Of the 1,481 Florida systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 3 are over 15 ppb right now and 85 have gone over at some point. Northwest's 1.5 ppb sits at the 63rd percentile in Florida and the 64th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Polk County
130 other systems share Polk County; 38 of them have a higher latest lead result than Northwest. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Lakeland, City Of | 193,297 | 0.6 ppb |
| Winter Haven Water Department | 87,537 | 7 ppb |
| Northeast | 60,557 | 1 ppb |
| Southwest/Polk County Utility | 39,209 | 1 ppb |
| Auburndale, City Of | 35,239 | 3.2 ppb |
| Haines City, City Of | 30,545 | 1 ppb |
| Bartow, City Of | 21,501 | 1 ppb |
| Lake Wales, City Of | 18,722 | 0.9 ppb |
| Central | 13,595 | 1.2 ppb |
| Davenport, City Of | 9,043 | 2.8 ppb |
Next steps for Winter Haven, FL
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Winter Haven, FL 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 Northwest 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.