Warwick-Potowomut, RI
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.5 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2023). 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.
Warwick-Potowomut at a glance
Warwick-Potowomut serves about 2,163 people through 865 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 surface water, in Kent County, Rhode Island. EPA system ID: RI1900051; phone on file: 401-921-9798. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Warwick-Potowomut is 1.5 ppb across 1 monitoring period, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.5 ppb |
Against other Rhode Island systems
Of the 78 Rhode Island systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.1 ppb; 6 are over 15 ppb right now and 17 have gone over at some point. Warwick-Potowomut's 1.5 ppb sits at the 60th percentile in Rhode Island and the 64th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
8 other systems share Kent County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than Warwick-Potowomut. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Kent County Water Authority | 94,107 | 2.1 ppb |
| Warwick-City Of | 73,289 | 2.09 ppb |
| Cne - New London Turnpike Entry Point | 9,999 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cne - Hopkins Hill Road Entry Point | 317 | 0 (not detected) |
| Paige Associates | 120 | - |
| Alpine Nursing Home | 105 | 0 (not detected) |
| Pine Acres Alr | 75 | 7.4 ppb |
| Blueberry Heights Housing Cooperative Co | 44 | 1 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Warwick, RI 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 Warwick-Potowomut 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.