Willow Creek, NY
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.8 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2025). 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.
Willow Creek at a glance
Willow Creek serves about 33 people through 1 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by the state and draws groundwater, in Cattaraugus County, New York. EPA system ID: NY0422797; phone on file: 716-557-2322. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2022 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Willow Creek is 0.97 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.8 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 0.65 ppb |
| 2016 | 0.97 ppb |
Against other New York systems
Of the 2,077 New York systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.5 ppb; 17 are over 15 ppb right now and 165 have gone over at some point. Willow Creek's 0.8 ppb sits at the 23rd percentile in New York and the 47th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Cattaraugus County
44 other systems share Cattaraugus County; 33 of them have a higher latest lead result than Willow Creek. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Olean City | 14,500 | 3.5 ppb |
| Salamanca City | 5,815 | 2.6 ppb |
| Gowanda Village | 2,800 | 2.2 ppb |
| Allegany Village | 2,000 | 4.5 ppb |
| Allegany Town District #8 (St. Bonas) | 1,850 | 2.62 ppb |
| Franklinville Village | 1,760 | 1 ppb |
| Randolph Town Water District | 1,738 | 2.2 ppb |
| Ellicottville Town Water District | 1,420 | 1 ppb |
| Little Valley Village | 1,188 | 1.4 ppb |
| Cattaraugus Village | 1,185 | 1 ppb |
Next steps for Hinsdale, NY
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Hinsdale, NY 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 Willow Creek 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.