Rio De Arenas, NM
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 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
Rio De Arenas serves about 205 people through 84 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Grant County, New Mexico. EPA system ID: NM3556109; phone on file: 858-413-5116. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Rio De Arenas's lead record
Against the period ending 2022 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Rio De Arenas is 2 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 ppb |
| 2022 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 1.1 ppb |
How Rio De Arenas compares
Of the 504 New Mexico systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.4 ppb; 14 are over 15 ppb right now and 46 have gone over at some point. Rio De Arenas's 2 ppb sits at the 59th percentile in New Mexico and the 70th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
16 other systems share Grant County; 5 of them have a higher latest lead result than Rio De Arenas. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Silver City Water System | 14,400 | 0.76 ppb |
| Bayard Municipal Water System | 2,616 | 2.1 ppb |
| Santa Clara Water System | 1,682 | 5.4 ppb |
| Hurley, Town Of | 1,613 | 0.57 ppb |
| Arenas Valley Mdwca | 1,204 | 1.4 ppb |
| Freeport Mcmoran Chino Mines | 1,050 | 6 ppb |
| Tyrone Townsite | 782 | 0.67 ppb |
| Casas Adobes Mdwca | 610 | 0 (not detected) |
| Burro Mountain Homestead | 415 | 12 ppb |
| North Hurley Mdwca | 404 | 0.85 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Arenas Valley, NM 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 Rio De 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.