Sparta Waterworks, WI
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.4 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.
Who runs the water here
Sparta Waterworks serves about 10,025 people through 3,112 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 Monroe County, Wisconsin. EPA system ID: WI6420297. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Sparta Waterworks's lead record
That is up 1.4 ppb from 0 ppb in the period ending 2020. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Sparta Waterworks is 2.74 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.4 ppb |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 2.74 ppb |
Against other Wisconsin systems
Of the 947 Wisconsin systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.33 ppb; 6 are over 15 ppb right now and 71 have gone over at some point. Sparta Waterworks's 1.4 ppb sits at the 52nd percentile in Wisconsin and the 62nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
10 other systems share Monroe County; 5 of them have a higher latest lead result than Sparta Waterworks. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Fort Mccoy North Post | 10,000 | 1.7 ppb |
| Tomah Waterworks | 9,192 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cashton Waterworks | 1,120 | 4.5 ppb |
| Norwalk Waterworks | 653 | 0 (not detected) |
| Warrens Waterworks | 540 | 0 (not detected) |
| Wilton Waterworks | 490 | 0 (not detected) |
| Kendall Waterworks | 458 | 2.36 ppb |
| Oakdale Waterworks | 317 | 0 (not detected) |
| Fort Mccoy South Post | 250 | 2.7 ppb |
| Cortland Acres | 145 | 2.29 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Sparta, WI 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 Sparta Waterworks 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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.