Rotterdam Wd #5, NY
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.83 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2026). 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.
Rotterdam Wd #5 at a glance
Rotterdam Wd #5 serves about 28,000 people through 11,000 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Schenectady County, New York. EPA system ID: NY4600069; phone on file: 518-355-7575. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Rotterdam Wd #5's lead record
That is down 1.37 ppb from 2.2 ppb in the period ending 2023. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Rotterdam Wd #5 is 2.2 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0.83 ppb |
| 2023 | 2.2 ppb |
| 2020 | 2 ppb |
| 2017 | 2 ppb |
Against other New York systems
Of the 2,077 New York systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.5 ppb; 17 are over 15 ppb right now and 165 have gone over at some point. Rotterdam Wd #5's 0.83 ppb sits at the 23rd percentile in New York and the 48th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Schenectady County
10 other systems share Schenectady County; 10 of them have a higher latest lead result than Rotterdam Wd #5. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Schenectady City Water Works | 62,000 | 3 ppb |
| Niskayuna Consolidated Wd #11 | 22,287 | 3 ppb |
| Glenville Wd #11 | 15,000 | 4.1 ppb |
| Scotia Village Water Works | 12,800 | 6.46 ppb |
| Rotterdam Wd #3 | 1,900 | 2 ppb |
| Princetown Water Supply | 900 | 3.35 ppb |
| Delanson Village Water Works | 380 | 3 ppb |
| West Hill Water Company Inc. | 180 | 1 ppb |
| Hillcrest Commons- Frt Section | 64 | 4.5 ppb |
| Hillcrest Commons-Rear Section | 42 | 1 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Rotterdam, NY 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 Rotterdam Wd #5 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.