Quebrada Arenas, PR
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 6 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2023). 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.
Quebrada Arenas at a glance
Quebrada Arenas serves about 4,472 people through 1,675 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 surface water, in Vega Baja Municipio County, PR. EPA system ID: PR0003882; phone on file: 787-620-2277. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2023 (6 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Quebrada Arenas is 6 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 6 ppb |
| 2023 | 6 ppb |
| 2022 | 6 ppb |
| 2022 | 6 ppb |
| 2021 | 6 ppb |
| 2021 | 3 ppb |
How Quebrada Arenas compares
Of the 111 PR systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 5 ppb; 10 are over 15 ppb right now and 16 have gone over at some point. Quebrada Arenas's 6 ppb sits at the 66th percentile in PR and the 93rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
6 other systems share Vega Baja Municipio County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Quebrada Arenas. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Vega Baja Urbano | 26,935 | - |
| Alturas | 6,325 | 6 ppb |
| Almirante Norte | 4,285 | - |
| Pugnado | 3,591 | - |
| Almirante Sur | 2,830 | - |
| Ciudad Real | 1,818 | - |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; San Lorenzo, PR 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 Quebrada Arenas 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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.