Ocwa, NY
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 8 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2026). 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.
Who runs the water here
Ocwa serves about 350,000 people through 100,948 service connections, which makes it a very large system under EPA's size classes. It is under mixed public and private ownership and draws surface water, in Onondaga County, New York. EPA system ID: NY3304336; phone on file: 315-455-7061. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2025 (7 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Ocwa is 8 ppb across 8 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 8 ppb |
| 2025 | 7 ppb |
| 2024 | 7 ppb |
| 2024 | 4 ppb |
| 2023 | 6 ppb |
| 2022 | 6.4 ppb |
| 2019 | 4.7 ppb |
| 2017 | 4.8 ppb |
How Ocwa compares
Of the 2,077 New York systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.5 ppb; 17 are over 15 ppb right now and 165 have gone over at some point. Ocwa's 8 ppb sits at the 93rd percentile in New York and the 96th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Onondaga County
23 other systems share Onondaga County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Ocwa. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Syracuse City | 192,000 | 12 ppb |
| Dewitt Wds - South | 16,200 | 3 ppb |
| Clay Wds | 16,000 | 4 ppb |
| Dewitt Wds - North | 13,600 | 3 ppb |
| Baldwinsville Village | 9,200 | 4 ppb |
| Skaneateles Wds | 3,500 | 3 ppb |
| Skaneateles Village | 2,610 | 3 ppb |
| Elbridge Village | 1,519 | 4 ppb |
| Jordan Village | 1,400 | 4 ppb |
| Tully Village | 930 | 1.1 ppb |
Next steps for Syracuse, NY
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Syracuse, NY 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 Ocwa 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.