Atkins Municipal Water Works, IA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 ppb (monitoring period 2021-2023). 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 Atkins Municipal Water Works
Atkins Municipal Water Works serves about 2,056 people through 813 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Benton County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA0603072; phone on file: 319-446-7870. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Atkins Municipal Water Works's lead record
Against the period ending 2020 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Atkins Municipal Water Works is 2 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 2 ppb |
| 2020 | 2 ppb |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
Against other Iowa systems
Of the 1,066 Iowa systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.4 ppb; 4 are over 15 ppb right now and 36 have gone over at some point. Atkins Municipal Water Works's 2 ppb sits at the 66th percentile in Iowa and the 72nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
16 other systems share Benton County; 4 of them have a higher latest lead result than Atkins Municipal Water Works. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Vinton Municipal Water Dept | 4,938 | 0 (not detected) |
| Belle Plaine Water Dept | 2,380 | 9.8 ppb |
| Poweshiek Water Association (Cr) | 2,000 | 0.6 ppb |
| Urbana Water Supply | 1,562 | 0 (not detected) |
| Shellsburg Water Supply | 961 | 3.1 ppb |
| Newhall Water Supply | 881 | 2.1 ppb |
| Van Horne Water Works | 779 | 0 (not detected) |
| Blairstown Water Supply | 738 | 0 (not detected) |
| Keystone Water Supply | 599 | 5.9 ppb |
| Norway City Water Supply | 466 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Atkins, IA 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 Atkins Municipal Water Works 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.