Selawik Safewater Facility, AK
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.7 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.
Selawik Safewater Facility at a glance
Selawik Safewater Facility serves about 846 people through 117 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a Native American tribe and draws surface water, in Northwest Arctic Borough County, Alaska. EPA system ID: AK2340379; phone on file: 907-484-5455. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Selawik Safewater Facility's lead record
Against the period ending 2020 (2.1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Selawik Safewater Facility is 2.7 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.7 ppb |
| 2020 | 2.1 ppb |
| 2019 | 2.7 ppb |
Against other Alaska systems
Of the 394 Alaska systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.6 ppb; 3 are over 15 ppb right now and 53 have gone over at some point. Selawik Safewater Facility's 1.7 ppb sits at the 52nd percentile in Alaska and the 66th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
10 other systems share Northwest Arctic Borough County; 6 of them have a higher latest lead result than Selawik Safewater Facility. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Kotzebue Mun. Water System | 3,234 | 45 ppb |
| Noorvik Water System | 735 | 2.06 ppb |
| Buckland Water System | 600 | 2.2 ppb |
| Noatak Community Water System | 485 | 0.25 ppb |
| Kiana Water System | 455 | 0.52 ppb |
| Kivalina Water System | 452 | 0 (not detected) |
| Shungnak Water System | 299 | 2.5 ppb |
| Ambler Community Water System | 261 | 1.08 ppb |
| Deering Utility System | 160 | 5.4 ppb |
| Kobuk Water System | 93 | 2.65 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Selawik, AK 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 Selawik Safewater Facility 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.