Belle Plaine Water Dept, IA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 9.8 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2023). 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.
Belle Plaine Water Dept at a glance
Belle Plaine Water Dept serves about 2,380 people through 1,297 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: IA0610099; phone on file: 319-231-3577. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Belle Plaine Water Dept's lead record
That is up 5.9 ppb from 3.9 ppb in the period ending 2022. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Belle Plaine Water Dept is 15 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (2 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 9.8 ppb |
| 2022 | 3.9 ppb |
| 2021 | 15 ppb over 10 |
| 2021 | 3.5 ppb |
| 2020 | 7.3 ppb |
| 2017 | 11.6 ppb over 10 |
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. Belle Plaine Water Dept's 9.8 ppb sits at the 97th percentile in Iowa and the 97th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
16 other systems share Benton County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Belle Plaine Water Dept. 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) |
| Atkins Municipal Water Works | 2,056 | 2 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) |
Next steps for Belle Plaine, IA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Belle Plaine, 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 Belle Plaine Water Dept whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1470 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.