West Plains Pws, MO
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.28 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.
West Plains Pws at a glance
West Plains Pws serves about 12,864 people through 5,858 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 Howell County, Missouri. EPA system ID: MO4010853; phone on file: 417-256-7177. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
West Plains Pws's lead record
Against the period ending 2025 (1.12 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for West Plains Pws is 2.09 ppb across 8 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.28 ppb |
| 2025 | 1.12 ppb |
| 2023 | 1.12 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.24 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.24 ppb |
| 2019 | 2.07 ppb |
| 2017 | 2.07 ppb |
| 2016 | 2.09 ppb |
How West Plains Pws compares
Of the 1,674 Missouri systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.04 ppb; 2 are over 15 ppb right now and 74 have gone over at some point. West Plains Pws's 1.28 ppb sits at the 56th percentile in Missouri and the 60th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
8 other systems share Howell County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than West Plains Pws. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain View Pws | 2,791 | 0 (not detected) |
| Willow Springs Pws | 2,250 | 1.37 ppb |
| Howell Oregon County Pwsd 2 North | 1,768 | 0 (not detected) |
| Howell County Pwsd 3 | 1,500 | 1.64 ppb |
| Howell Oregon 2 West | 1,210 | 1.37 ppb |
| Howell County Pwsd 1 | 850 | 0 (not detected) |
| Howell Oregon County Pwsd 2 South | 182 | 0.64 ppb |
| Henrys Mhp | 100 | 1.23 ppb |
Next steps for West Plains, MO
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; West Plains, MO 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 Plains Pws 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. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.