West Helena Water Works, AR
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 5.7 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.
About West Helena Water Works
West Helena Water Works serves about 5,693 people through 2,596 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Phillips County, Arkansas. EPA system ID: AR0000416; phone on file: 870-817-7439. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
That is up 3.7 ppb from 2 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for West Helena Water Works is 6 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2028 | 5.7 ppb |
| 2025 | 2 ppb |
| 2022 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 3 ppb |
| 2016 | 6 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. West Helena Water Works's 5.7 ppb sits at the 86th percentile in Arkansas and the 92nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
7 other systems share Phillips County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than West Helena Water Works. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Barton Lexa Water Association | 3,565 | 3.7 ppb |
| Helena Water Sewer | 2,708 | 9 ppb |
| Marvell Rural Water Assoc | 1,305 | - |
| Elaine Waterworks | 1,233 | - |
| Marvell Waterworks | 1,000 | - |
| Lake View Municipal Water | 665 | - |
| Long Lake Water Association | 188 | - |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Helena, 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 West Helena Water Works 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.