Benson, MN
Above the federal action level
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 16 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. In the most recent monitoring period, more than 10% of the sampled homes measured above 15 ppb. Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead for drinking and cooking now, and test your own tap.
Benson at a glance
Benson serves about 3,437 people through 1,478 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 Swift County, Minnesota. EPA system ID: MN1760008; phone on file: 3208434775. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Benson's lead record
That is up 14 ppb from 2 ppb in the period ending 2023. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Benson is 16 ppb across 12 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 16 ppb over 15 |
| 2023 | 2 ppb |
| 2022 | 4 ppb |
| 2021 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2018 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 2 ppb |
| 2017 | 4 ppb |
| 2017 | 2 ppb |
| 2016 | 2 ppb |
| 2016 | 3 ppb |
How Benson 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. Benson's 16 ppb sits at the 99th percentile in Minnesota and the 99th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
5 other systems share Swift County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Benson. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Appleton | 1,376 | 0 (not detected) |
| Kerkhoven | 806 | 0 (not detected) |
| Murdock | 306 | 1 ppb |
| Degraff | 110 | 0 (not detected) |
| Holloway | 86 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Benson, MN
Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead on the tap you drink and cook from, now, before you test. Then test your own tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Benson whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1700 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.