Otoe Co Rwd #3, NE
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.55 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.
Who runs the water here
Otoe Co Rwd #3 serves about 2,500 people through 1,028 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Otoe County, Nebraska. EPA system ID: NE3113103; phone on file: 402-269-2785. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2023 (2.4 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Otoe Co Rwd #3 is 3.34 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.55 ppb |
| 2023 | 2.4 ppb |
| 2020 | 2.98 ppb |
| 2017 | 3.34 ppb |
How Otoe Co Rwd #3 compares
Of the 576 Nebraska systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.55 ppb; 7 are over 15 ppb right now and 29 have gone over at some point. Otoe Co Rwd #3's 1.55 ppb sits at the 50th percentile in Nebraska and the 64th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
10 other systems share Otoe County; 6 of them have a higher latest lead result than Otoe Co Rwd #3. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Nebraska City, City Of | 7,220 | 0.52 ppb |
| Syracuse, City Of | 1,962 | 8.73 ppb |
| Otoe Co Rwd 1 | 714 | 0.6 ppb |
| Palmyra, Village Of | 567 | 3.5 ppb |
| Unadilla, Village Of | 311 | 2.33 ppb |
| Otoe, Village Of | 288 | 3.85 ppb |
| Talmage, Village Of | 266 | 2.99 ppb |
| Douglas, Village Of | 200 | 2.75 ppb |
| Dunbar, Village Of | 195 | 0 (not detected) |
| Burr, Village Of | 57 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Syracuse, NE 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 Otoe Co Rwd #3 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.