South Swink Water Authority, CO
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3 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
South Swink Water Authority serves about 622 people through 227 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 groundwater, in Otero County, Colorado. EPA system ID: CO0145690; phone on file: 719-384-5458. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
South Swink Water Authority's lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (4 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for South Swink Water Authority is 5 ppb across 7 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 ppb |
| 2021 | 4 ppb |
| 2020 | 3 ppb |
| 2019 | 3 ppb |
| 2018 | 3 ppb |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 5 ppb |
Against other Colorado systems
Of the 1,025 Colorado systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 2 are over 15 ppb right now and 71 have gone over at some point. South Swink Water Authority's 3 ppb sits at the 83rd percentile in Colorado and the 82nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
22 other systems share Otero County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than South Swink Water Authority. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| La Junta City Of | 8,320 | 1 ppb |
| Rocky Ford City Of | 4,443 | 0 (not detected) |
| Fowler Town Of | 1,169 | 0 (not detected) |
| Bents Fort Wc | 900 | 0.6 ppb |
| Swink Town Of | 660 | 2 ppb |
| Eureka Wc | 498 | 0 (not detected) |
| Manzanola Town Of | 497 | 0 (not detected) |
| Newdale Grand Valley Wc | 458 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hilltop Wc | 285 | 1.5 ppb |
| Valley Wc | 270 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; La Junta, CO 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 South Swink Water Authority 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.