Puget Island, WA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.7 ppb (monitoring period 2021-2023). 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 Puget Island
Puget Island serves about 920 people through 557 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 Wahkiakum County, Washington. EPA system ID: WA5369760. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2020 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Puget Island is 8 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.7 ppb |
| 2020 | 1 ppb |
| 2017 | 8 ppb |
How Puget Island compares
Of the 2,218 Washington systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 18 are over 15 ppb right now and 62 have gone over at some point. Puget Island's 1.7 ppb sits at the 64th percentile in Washington and the 66th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
3 other systems share Wahkiakum County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Puget Island. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Cathlamet Water Dept | 1,636 | 2 ppb |
| Western Wahkiakum | 791 | 1.2 ppb |
| Skamokawa Water System | 267 | 4.2 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Cathlamet, WA 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 Puget Island 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.