90TH PERCENTILE

(Water Quality) Term used in conjunction with water sampling standards as required under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and amendments thereto. The 90th percentile value is calculated by first placing all sample results in order from the lowest concentration to the highest concentration (i.e., concentration of specific contaminants). Next, assign each sample result a number, starting with the number 1 for the lowest (concentration) result up to the highest concentration being given the number equal to the total number of samples collected from a particular water supply system. Then multiply the total number of samples collected by 0.9. The sample result with the number corresponding to this calculated value is the 90th percentile.