Union Pws, MO
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2.48 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.
Who runs the water here
Union Pws serves about 12,348 people through 5,170 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 groundwater, in Franklin County, Missouri. EPA system ID: MO6010801; phone on file: 636-583-1805. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Union Pws's lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (2.27 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Union Pws is 2.69 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 2.48 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.27 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.27 ppb |
| 2019 | 2.69 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.69 ppb |
| 2016 | 2.46 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 1,674 Missouri systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.04 ppb; 2 are over 15 ppb right now and 74 have gone over at some point. Union Pws's 2.48 ppb sits at the 77th percentile in Missouri and the 77th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
39 other systems share Franklin County; 12 of them have a higher latest lead result than Union Pws. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Pws | 14,068 | 2.62 ppb |
| Franklin County Pwsd 3 | 8,250 | 1.9 ppb |
| Lake Royale S/D | 5,890 | 0.9 ppb |
| St Clair Pws | 4,700 | 2.23 ppb |
| Franklin County Pwsd 1 | 3,500 | 4.13 ppb |
| New Haven Pws | 2,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Gerald Pws | 1,383 | 2.9 ppb |
| Franklin County Pwsd 3 St Albans | 1,300 | 1.88 ppb |
| Franklin County Pwsd 4 | 760 | 2.89 ppb |
| Franklin County Pwsd 3 Lake Serene | 600 | 1.8 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Union, MO 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 Union Pws 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.