Peterborough Water Works, NH
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 9 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2024). 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 Peterborough Water Works
Peterborough Water Works serves about 4,500 people through 1,840 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. EPA system ID: NH1871010. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Peterborough Water Works's lead record
That is up 2 ppb from 7 ppb in the period ending 2024. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Peterborough Water Works is 10 ppb across 10 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 9 ppb |
| 2024 | 7 ppb |
| 2023 | 9 ppb |
| 2023 | 5 ppb |
| 2023 | 9 ppb |
| 2022 | 10 ppb |
| 2020 | 4 ppb |
| 2019 | 6 ppb |
| 2019 | 6 ppb |
| 2017 | 5 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 124 New Hampshire systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 16 ppb; 62 are over 15 ppb right now and 64 have gone over at some point. Peterborough Water Works's 9 ppb sits at the 47th percentile in New Hampshire and the 97th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Hillsborough County
67 other systems share Hillsborough County; 4 of them have a higher latest lead result than Peterborough Water Works. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester Water Works | 123,500 | 0 (not detected) |
| Pennichuck Water Works | 88,853 | 2 ppb |
| Merrimack Village Dist | 25,500 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hudson Water Dept | 16,700 | 0 (not detected) |
| Milford Water Utilities Dept | 9,500 | 2 ppb |
| Litchfield | 6,920 | 0 (not detected) |
| Goffstown Village Pct | 3,250 | - |
| Little Pond Estates | 3,000 | - |
| Hillsborough Water Works | 2,000 | - |
| Wilton Water Works | 1,790 | - |
Next steps for Peterborough, NH
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Peterborough, NH 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 Peterborough Water Works 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.