Patterson Valley Wc, CO
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.5 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 Patterson Valley Wc
Patterson Valley Wc serves about 96 people through 42 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Otero County, Colorado. EPA system ID: CO0145540; phone on file: 719-468-0038. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2024 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Patterson Valley Wc is 4.8 ppb across 8 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.5 ppb |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 0.6 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.8 ppb |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 4.2 ppb |
| 2017 | 4.8 ppb |
| 2016 | 4 ppb |
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. Patterson Valley Wc's 0.5 ppb sits at the 40th percentile in Colorado and the 43rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Otero County
22 other systems share Otero County; 10 of them have a higher latest lead result than Patterson Valley Wc. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| La Junta City Of | 8,320 | 1 ppb |
| Rocky Ford City Of | 4,443 | 0 (not detected) |
| Fowler Town Of | 1,169 | 0 (not detected) |
| Bents Fort Wc | 900 | 0.6 ppb |
| Swink Town Of | 660 | 2 ppb |
| South Swink Water Authority | 622 | 3 ppb |
| Eureka Wc | 498 | 0 (not detected) |
| Manzanola Town Of | 497 | 0 (not detected) |
| Newdale Grand Valley Wc | 458 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hilltop Wc | 285 | 1.5 ppb |
Next steps for Rocky Ford, CO
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Rocky Ford, 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 Patterson Valley Wc 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. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.