Tonawanda, Town Water Dept., NY
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2.1 ppb (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. 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.
Tonawanda, Town Water Dept. at a glance
Tonawanda, Town Water Dept. serves about 72,571 people through 23,688 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 surface water, in Erie County, New York. EPA system ID: NY1404556; phone on file: 716-874-0490. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Tonawanda, Town Water Dept.'s lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (2.2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Tonawanda, Town Water Dept. is 2.2 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 2.1 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.2 ppb |
| 2018 | 1.8 ppb |
Against other New York systems
Of the 2,077 New York systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.5 ppb; 17 are over 15 ppb right now and 165 have gone over at some point. Tonawanda, Town Water Dept.'s 2.1 ppb sits at the 62nd percentile in New York and the 74th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
43 other systems share Erie County; 19 of them have a higher latest lead result than Tonawanda, Town Water Dept.. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Ecwa Direct | 313,380 | 6 ppb |
| Buffalo Water Authority | 276,000 | 3 ppb |
| Ecwa Amherst | 92,697 | 9.85 ppb |
| Ecwa Lancaster | 29,018 | 9.85 ppb |
| Ecwa Orchard Park | 24,582 | 9.85 ppb |
| Ecwa West Seneca | 23,557 | 9.85 ppb |
| Grand Island Town Water Dept. | 19,500 | 1.13 ppb |
| Kenmore Village | 15,423 | 2.1 ppb |
| Ecwa Evans | 12,338 | 7.8 ppb |
| Elma Water District No. 1 | 10,287 | 1.6 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Tonawanda, NY 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 Tonawanda, Town Water Dept. 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.