Watson Rural Water Company, IN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 5 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.
Who runs the water here
Watson Rural Water Company serves about 15,750 people through 6,300 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 Clark County, Indiana. EPA system ID: IN5210016; phone on file: 812-246-5416. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Watson Rural Water Company's lead record
Against the period ending 2023 (5 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Watson Rural Water Company is 5 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 5 ppb |
| 2023 | 5 ppb |
| 2020 | 5 ppb |
| 2017 | 2.4 ppb |
How Watson Rural Water Company compares
Of the 687 Indiana systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.31 ppb; 6 are over 15 ppb right now and 36 have gone over at some point. Watson Rural Water Company's 5 ppb sits at the 90th percentile in Indiana and the 91st nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
9 other systems share Clark County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Watson Rural Water Company. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Indiana American Water - S. Indiana | 104,445 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sellersburg Water Department | 15,655 | 0 (not detected) |
| Borden Tri-County Region | 11,000 | 1.8 ppb |
| Indiana American Water - Charlestown | 8,658 | 0 (not detected) |
| Rural Membership Water Corp. Of Clark Co | 8,630 | 1.61 ppb |
| Marysville Otisco Nabb Water Corp. | 6,813 | 0 (not detected) |
| Washington Township Water | 4,315 | 2.62 ppb |
| Indiana American Water - Rivers Edge | 610 | 1 ppb |
| Sunflower Valley Water Co, Inc. | 75 | 2 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Jeffersonville, IN 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 Watson Rural Water Company 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.