Washington Co Rural Water 1, NE
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 4.1 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.
Washington Co Rural Water 1 at a glance
Washington Co Rural Water 1 serves about 2,009 people through 614 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 Washington County, Nebraska. EPA system ID: NE3120004; phone on file: 402-616-0969. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Washington Co Rural Water 1's lead record
That is up 3.41 ppb from 0.69 ppb in the period ending 2021. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Washington Co Rural Water 1 is 4.1 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 4.1 ppb |
| 2021 | 0.69 ppb |
| 2018 | 0.71 ppb |
How Washington Co Rural Water 1 compares
Of the 576 Nebraska systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.55 ppb; 7 are over 15 ppb right now and 29 have gone over at some point. Washington Co Rural Water 1's 4.1 ppb sits at the 84th percentile in Nebraska and the 88th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
10 other systems share Washington County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Washington Co Rural Water 1. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Blair, City Of | 8,000 | 1.59 ppb |
| Lakeland Estates Water Company | 1,552 | 2.3 ppb |
| Arlington, Village Of | 1,350 | 1.45 ppb |
| Kennard, Village Of | 1,350 | 9.6 ppb |
| Washington Co Rural Water 2 | 1,218 | 1.7 ppb |
| Fort Calhoun, City Of | 1,010 | 0 (not detected) |
| Country Estates Mobile Home Park | 300 | 0 (not detected) |
| Herman, Village Of | 268 | 4.8 ppb |
| Shannon Estates | 100 | 0 (not detected) |
| 133 Estates | 61 | 3.72 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Blair, NE 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 Washington Co Rural Water 1 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.