Bellechester, MN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 8 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.
Bellechester at a glance
Bellechester serves about 169 people through 85 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Goodhue County, Minnesota. EPA system ID: MN1250006; phone on file: 6513802026. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Bellechester's lead record
That is up 7 ppb from 1 ppb in the period ending 2020. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Bellechester is 8 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 8 ppb |
| 2020 | 1 ppb |
Against other Minnesota systems
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. Bellechester's 8 ppb sits at the 96th percentile in Minnesota and the 96th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
11 other systems share Goodhue County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Bellechester. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Red Wing | 16,459 | 2 ppb |
| Cannon Falls | 4,237 | 0 (not detected) |
| Pine Island | 3,380 | 1 ppb |
| Zumbrota | 3,172 | 2 ppb |
| Kenyon | 1,892 | 5 ppb |
| Goodhue | 1,200 | 2 ppb |
| Wanamingo | 1,113 | 1 ppb |
| Dennison | 220 | 2 ppb |
| Mn Correctional Facility - Red Wing | 170 | 1 ppb |
| Goodhue County Coop Electric | 143 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Bellechester, MN
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Bellechester, 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 Bellechester 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. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.