Ward Waterworks, AR
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2028). 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
Ward Waterworks serves about 12,579 people through 4,851 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 Lonoke County, Arkansas. EPA system ID: AR0000345; phone on file: 501-843-2261. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Ward Waterworks's lead record
Against the period ending 2025 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Ward Waterworks is 3 ppb across 7 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2028 | 1 ppb |
| 2025 | 1 ppb |
| 2020 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 3 ppb |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2016 | 3 ppb |
Against other Arkansas systems
Of the 190 Arkansas systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 15 are over 15 ppb right now and 19 have gone over at some point. Ward Waterworks's 1 ppb sits at the 44th percentile in Arkansas and the 55th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
8 other systems share Lonoke County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Ward Waterworks. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Prairie Bayou 2 Pwa | 13,138 | 1 ppb |
| Lonoke Waterworks | 4,277 | 1 ppb |
| Austin Waterworks | 3,600 | 4 ppb |
| Furlow Public Water Authority | 3,138 | - |
| England Waterworks | 3,128 | - |
| Carlisle Waterworks | 2,300 | - |
| Keo Water Works | 388 | - |
| Coy Waterworks | 218 | - |
Next steps for Ward, AR
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Ward, AR 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 Ward Waterworks 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.