Quilcene, WA
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.
Who runs the water here
Quilcene serves about 119 people through 45 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Jefferson County, Washington. EPA system ID: WA53AB292. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Quilcene's lead record
Against the period ending 2022 (1.5 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Quilcene is 4 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.5 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.5 ppb |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2016 | 4 ppb |
Where this result ranks
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. Quilcene's 0.5 ppb sits at the 37th percentile in Washington and the 43rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
23 other systems share Jefferson County; 14 of them have a higher latest lead result than Quilcene. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Port Townsend City Of | 17,053 | 3 ppb |
| Quimper | 14,548 | 2 ppb |
| Olympic Water & Sewer Inc | 3,086 | 5.9 ppb |
| Cape George Colony Club Inc | 1,022 | 0 (not detected) |
| Bywater Bay | 628 | 2 ppb |
| Bridgehaven Community Club | 623 | 17 ppb |
| Jefferson County Water Dist #1 | 600 | 1.5 ppb |
| Olympic Corrections Center | 390 | 0.5 ppb |
| Gardiner Lud 1 | 379 | 0 (not detected) |
| Lazy C | 367 | 3 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Port Townsend, 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 Quilcene 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.