Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.

What About Lead?

water fountain

Barrow Utilities & Elec. Co-op Inc. (bu - click here to return to the utility page.

According to EWG’s analysis of 2023 lead testing results, this utility complied with federal water quality regulations for lead. Under the federal Lead and Copper Rule, lead concentrations must be below 15 parts per billion (ppb) in 90 percent of households sampled. If this legal limit is exceeded, the water utility must apply measures to control lead leaching from water pipes. The EPA lowered the lead action level from 15 to 10 ppb, but it doesn't go into effect until 2027.

Number of lead samples taken in 2023: 42

Highest level detected in 2023: 0.0 ppb

Levels of lead detected


Complying with the EPA's lead rules doesn't mean that the water is safe for children to drink. The EPA’s recent modeling suggests that lead concentrations in the 3.8 to 15 ppb range can put a formula-fed baby at risk of elevated blood lead levels. In 2009, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment set a public health goal level of 0.2 ppb for lead in drinking water to protect against even subtle IQ loss in children.

Lead Results, 2023

Samples in red indicate that the sample is above the EPA action level.

DateLab IDResult
2023-09-11ND
2023-06-12ND
2023-06-12ND
2023-06-12ND
2023-06-12ND
2023-09-11ND
2023-09-11ND
2023-09-11ND
2023-09-11ND
2023-09-11ND
2023-09-11ND
2023-06-12ND
2023-09-11ND
2023-12-05ND
2023-12-05ND
2023-12-05ND
2023-12-05ND
2023-12-05ND
2023-12-05ND
2023-12-05ND
2023-12-05ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-03-07ND
2023-06-12ND
2023-06-12ND
2023-06-12ND
2023-06-12ND
MORE
LESS

Read more about lead here.