Benton Charter Township, MI
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2026-2026). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. The latest result is under the action level, but this system has gone over 15 ppb before. Lead comes from pipes, not the source water, so a home with a lead service line can still be exposed. Test your own tap.
Benton Charter Township at a glance
Benton Charter Township serves about 6,768 people through 2,638 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 surface water, in Berrien County, Michigan. EPA system ID: MI0000605. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Benton Charter Township's lead record
That is down 1.3 ppb from 1.3 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Benton Charter Township is 16 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 1.3 ppb |
| 2025 | 12 ppb over 10 |
| 2024 | 16 ppb over 15 |
| 2021 | 8.6 ppb |
| 2018 | 2 ppb |
How Benton Charter Township compares
Of the 1,227 Michigan systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 31 are over 15 ppb right now and 109 have gone over at some point. Benton Charter Township's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 32nd percentile in Michigan and the 36th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Nearby utilities
34 other systems share Berrien County; 25 of them have a higher latest lead result than Benton Charter Township. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Southwest Michigan Regional Sanitary Sew | 26,780 | 1.1 ppb |
| Niles | 14,215 | 2 ppb |
| Benton Harbor | 9,103 | 0.8 ppb |
| St Joseph | 7,930 | 4 ppb |
| Buchanan | 4,871 | 3 ppb |
| Lake Charter Township | 4,177 | 1.5 ppb |
| Andrews University | 3,000 | 1 ppb |
| New Buffalo Township | 2,845 | 2 ppb |
| Chikaming Township | 2,825 | 1.51 ppb |
| Watervliet | 2,735 | 0.8 ppb |
Next steps for Benton Harbor, MI
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Benton Harbor, MI 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 Benton Charter Township 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. More in what a past exceedance means today.