Start Water System, LA
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2024-2026). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. The latest 90th-percentile result was reported as 0 (not detected at the lab's limit). That says the sampled homes were low, not that your home has no lead service line. Check your utility's service line inventory for your address.
Who runs the water here
Start Water System serves about 2,514 people through 838 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Richland Parish County, Louisiana. EPA system ID: LA1083007; phone on file: 318-728-5145. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Start Water System's lead record
Against the period ending 2023 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Start Water System is 0 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
Where this result ranks
Of the 802 Louisiana systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0.72 ppb; 4 are over 15 ppb right now and 30 have gone over at some point. Start Water System's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 30th percentile in Louisiana and the 32nd nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Nearby utilities
8 other systems share Richland Parish County; 6 of them have a higher latest lead result than Start Water System. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Town Of Rayville Water System | 4,842 | 1 ppb |
| Archibald Water System | 4,200 | 1 ppb |
| Town Of Delhi Water Supply | 4,071 | 2 ppb |
| River Road Water System | 3,513 | 2.6 ppb |
| East Richland Ww District | 3,120 | 2.4 ppb |
| Village Of Mangham Water System | 927 | 0 (not detected) |
| Bcc Detention Center Ws | 150 | 0.4 ppb |
| Richland Heights Subd Water System | 30 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Look up your address in Start Water System's service line inventory. If it says lead, galvanized or unknown, test your tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Start Water System 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. Small systems behave differently: why small systems go over more often.