White Sands, MD
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.8 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2024). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. The latest result is under the action level, but this system has gone over 15 ppb before. Lead comes from pipes, not the source water, so a home with a lead service line can still be exposed. Test your own tap.
About White Sands
White Sands serves about 82 people through 30 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Calvert County, Maryland. EPA system ID: MD0040017; phone on file: 240-725-8583. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
White Sands's lead record
Against the period ending 2023 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for White Sands is 29 ppb across 8 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 0.8 ppb |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 2 ppb |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 29 ppb over 15 |
| 2017 | 3 ppb |
How White Sands compares
Of the 437 Maryland systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 3 are over 15 ppb right now and 21 have gone over at some point. White Sands's 0.8 ppb sits at the 55th percentile in Maryland and the 47th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
28 other systems share Calvert County; 5 of them have a higher latest lead result than White Sands. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Chesapeake Ranch Estates | 9,500 | 0 (not detected) |
| Town Of Chesapeake Beach | 5,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Prince Frederick | 4,371 | 0 (not detected) |
| Solomons | 3,811 | 0 (not detected) |
| Town Of North Beach | 3,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Beaches Water Co-Operative | 2,000 | 1.5 ppb |
| Scientists Cliffs | 1,425 | 0 (not detected) |
| Chesapeake Heights (Bayside Forest) | 1,190 | 3 ppb |
| Summit/Highlands | 1,108 | 0 (not detected) |
| The Calverton School | 461 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Prince Frederick, MD 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 White Sands 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. Why an old exceedance still matters: over the limit before, under it now.