Ouray City Of, CO
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.3 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.
About Ouray City Of
Ouray City Of serves about 1,460 people through 1,004 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 surface water, in Ouray County, Colorado. EPA system ID: CO0146588; phone on file: 970-325-7074. 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 2021 (1.6 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Ouray City Of is 3.7 ppb across 7 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.3 ppb |
| 2021 | 1.6 ppb |
| 2020 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 1.3 ppb |
| 2018 | 3.7 ppb |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
Against other Colorado systems
Of the 1,025 Colorado systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 2 are over 15 ppb right now and 71 have gone over at some point. Ouray City Of's 1.3 ppb sits at the 59th percentile in Colorado and the 60th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Ouray County
4 other systems share Ouray County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Ouray City Of. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas Creek Wc | 1,059 | 2 ppb |
| Ridgway Town Of | 1,000 | 2.5 ppb |
| Elk Meadows Estates | 230 | 1.2 ppb |
| Dallas Meadows Community Assoc | 120 | 1 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Ouray, CO 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 Ouray City Of 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. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.