Town Of Decatur, MS
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.5 ppb (monitoring period 2021-2023). 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.
About Town Of Decatur
Town Of Decatur serves about 1,945 people through 507 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 Newton County, Mississippi. EPA system ID: MS0510004; phone on file: 601-635-2761. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2020 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Town Of Decatur is 1.3 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 0.5 ppb |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 1.3 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 973 Mississippi systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 9 are over 15 ppb right now and 44 have gone over at some point. Town Of Decatur's 0.5 ppb sits at the 23rd percentile in Mississippi and the 43rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Newton County
10 other systems share Newton County; 9 of them have a higher latest lead result than Town Of Decatur. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| City Of Union | 3,432 | 0 (not detected) |
| City Of Newton | 3,373 | 1.98 ppb |
| Town Of Hickory | 2,669 | 6 ppb |
| North Decatur W/A #1 | 2,455 | 0.9 ppb |
| Beulah Hubbard Water Assn, Inc | 2,318 | 0.7 ppb |
| South Newton Rural W/A #1 | 2,167 | 1.4 ppb |
| Duffee Water Association | 1,716 | 0.9 ppb |
| South Newton Rural W/A #4 | 618 | 0.6 ppb |
| Town Of Chunky | 507 | 1 ppb |
| South Newton Rural W/A #2 | 275 | 0.9 ppb |
Next steps for Decatur, MS
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Decatur, MS 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 Town Of Decatur 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.