South Bend Water Department, WA
Above the federal action level
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 23 ppb (monitoring period 2021-2023). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. In the most recent monitoring period, more than 10% of the sampled homes measured above 15 ppb. Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead for drinking and cooking now, and test your own tap.
About South Bend Water Department
South Bend Water Department serves about 2,930 people through 1,032 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Pacific County, Washington. EPA system ID: WA5381500. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Lead results over time
That is up 16 ppb from 7 ppb in the period ending 2020. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for South Bend Water Department is 23 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 23 ppb over 15 |
| 2020 | 7 ppb |
| 2017 | 14 ppb over 10 |
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. South Bend Water Department's 23 ppb sits at the 100th percentile in Washington and the 99th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
16 other systems share Pacific County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than South Bend Water Department. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| North Beach Water | 8,093 | 20 ppb |
| Long Beach Water Department | 4,628 | 3.8 ppb |
| Raymond Water Department | 4,620 | 1.1 ppb |
| Ilwaco Water Department City Of | 2,757 | 2 ppb |
| Surfside Homeowners | 2,687 | 4 ppb |
| Willapa Valley Water District | 2,425 | 0 (not detected) |
| Naselle | 2,073 | 1 ppb |
| Chinook Water District | 664 | 9 ppb |
| Bay Center | 579 | 0 (not detected) |
| Lebam | 174 | 8 ppb |
What to do in your house
Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead on the tap you drink and cook from, now, before you test. Then test your own tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask South Bend Water Department 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.