Albion, MI
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1 ppb (monitoring period 2025-2025). 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.
About Albion
Albion serves about 9,144 people through 3,100 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Calhoun County, Michigan. EPA system ID: MI0000100; phone on file: 269-420-1500. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2024 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Albion is 1 ppb across 14 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 ppb |
| 2024 | 1 ppb |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2018 | 1 ppb |
Against other Michigan systems
Of the 1,227 Michigan systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 31 are over 15 ppb right now and 109 have gone over at some point. Albion's 1 ppb sits at the 49th percentile in Michigan and the 55th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
16 other systems share Calhoun County; 5 of them have a higher latest lead result than Albion. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Battle Creek - Verona System | 43,975 | 2 ppb |
| Marshall | 7,088 | 2 ppb |
| Pennfield Township | 3,916 | 1.6 ppb |
| Springfield | 3,833 | 0 (not detected) |
| Emmett Township | 2,550 | 0 (not detected) |
| Homer | 1,668 | - |
| Athens | 956 | - |
| Bedford Hills | 850 | 0 (not detected) |
| Tekonsha | 722 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hickory Hills | 708 | 2.13 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Albion, MI 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 Albion whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1350 ppb (copper action level 1,300 ppb).
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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.