Truth Or Consequences, NM
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.1 ppb (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. 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 Truth Or Consequences
Truth Or Consequences serves about 6,783 people through 3,261 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Sierra County, New Mexico. EPA system ID: NM3514327; phone on file: 575-740-4342. 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 2023 (0.86 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Truth Or Consequences is 1.2 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.1 ppb |
| 2023 | 0.86 ppb |
| 2020 | 0.92 ppb |
| 2019 | 1.2 ppb |
How Truth Or Consequences compares
Of the 504 New Mexico systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.4 ppb; 14 are over 15 ppb right now and 46 have gone over at some point. Truth Or Consequences's 1.1 ppb sits at the 45th percentile in New Mexico and the 57th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
5 other systems share Sierra County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Truth Or Consequences. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Elephant Butte Water System | 2,286 | 0 (not detected) |
| Elephant Butte, City Of | 1,350 | 1.9 ppb |
| Hillsboro Mdwca | 172 | 2.7 ppb |
| Caballo Lake Mdwca | 102 | 0 (not detected) |
| Desertaire Water Company | 45 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Truth Or Consequences, NM 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 Truth Or Consequences 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.