Sterling, City Of, KS
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2022-2024). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. The latest result is under the action level, but this system has gone over 15 ppb before. Lead comes from pipes, not the source water, so a home with a lead service line can still be exposed. Test your own tap.
Sterling, City Of at a glance
Sterling, City Of serves about 2,318 people through 995 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 Rice County, Kansas. EPA system ID: KS2015902; phone on file: 620-278-3423. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Sterling, City Of's lead record
That is down 1.5 ppb from 1.5 ppb in the period ending 2021. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Sterling, City Of is 17 ppb across 9 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 1.5 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.2 ppb |
| 2019 | 1.5 ppb |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 1.9 ppb |
| 2018 | 1.3 ppb |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 17 ppb over 15 |
Against other Kansas systems
Of the 832 Kansas systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.4 ppb; 2 are over 15 ppb right now and 35 have gone over at some point. Sterling, City Of's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 28th percentile in Kansas and the 31st nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Neighbouring systems
7 other systems share Rice County; 6 of them have a higher latest lead result than Sterling, City Of. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Lyons, City Of | 3,556 | 1.27 ppb |
| Rice Co Rwd 1 | 900 | 4.2 ppb |
| Little River, City Of | 474 | 2.2 ppb |
| Chase, City Of | 390 | 0 (not detected) |
| Geneseo, City Of | 231 | 0.51 ppb |
| Bushton, City Of | 199 | 2.9 ppb |
| Raymond, City Of | 85 | 1.3 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Sterling, KS 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 Sterling, City Of 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. Why an old exceedance still matters: over the limit before, under it now.