Balaton, MN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2026). 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.
Balaton at a glance
Balaton serves about 639 people through 318 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 Lyon County, Minnesota. EPA system ID: MN1420001; phone on file: 5077344711. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
That is down 9 ppb from 12 ppb in the period ending 2023. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Balaton is 12 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (1 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 3 ppb |
| 2023 | 12 ppb over 10 |
How Balaton compares
Of the 966 Minnesota systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 7 are over 15 ppb right now and 48 have gone over at some point. Balaton's 3 ppb sits at the 81st percentile in Minnesota and the 82nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Lyon County
11 other systems share Lyon County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Balaton. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Marshall | 13,890 | 8 ppb |
| Tracy | 2,154 | 4 ppb |
| Minneota | 1,380 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cottonwood | 1,212 | 0 (not detected) |
| Lynd | 448 | 1 ppb |
| Ghent | 370 | 0 (not detected) |
| Russell | 338 | 2 ppb |
| Taunton | 135 | 0 (not detected) |
| Garvin | 135 | 0 (not detected) |
| Fairview Township Water Association | 89 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Balaton, MN 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 Balaton 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.