Salem, City Of, VA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3.1 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
Salem, City Of serves about 24,346 people through 9,715 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 surface water. EPA system ID: VA2775300; phone on file: 540-375-3029. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Salem, City Of's lead record
Against the period ending 2025 (2.5 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Salem, City Of is 3.1 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3.1 ppb |
| 2025 | 2.5 ppb |
| 2022 | 2.9 ppb |
| 2019 | 2.1 ppb |
| 2017 | 1 ppb |
How Salem, City Of compares
Of the 996 Virginia systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 3 are over 15 ppb right now and 59 have gone over at some point. Salem, City Of's 3.1 ppb sits at the 84th percentile in Virginia and the 83rd nationally (higher means more lead).
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Salem, VA 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 Salem, City Of 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.