Big Rapids, MI
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 ppb (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. 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.
Big Rapids at a glance
Big Rapids serves about 10,403 people through 2,386 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Mecosta County, Michigan. EPA system ID: MI0000710; phone on file: 231-592-4018. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2025 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Big Rapids is 3 ppb across 11 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 ppb |
| 2025 | 2 ppb |
| 2024 | 2 ppb |
| 2024 | 1 ppb |
| 2023 | 1 ppb |
| 2022 | 1 ppb |
| 2021 | 1 ppb |
| 2020 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 2 ppb |
| 2017 | 3 ppb |
| 2017 | 3 ppb |
How Big Rapids 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. Big Rapids's 2 ppb sits at the 68th percentile in Michigan and the 73rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Mecosta County
9 other systems share Mecosta County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Big Rapids. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Sunset Shores | 200 | 1.28 ppb |
| Remus Apartment Company | 100 | - |
| Holiday Terrace | 90 | 5 ppb |
| Royal View Retirement Village | 80 | 0.62 ppb |
| Haven View Mobile Court | 75 | 2 ppb |
| Parks Place Estates | 72 | 0.56 ppb |
| Tullymore Clubhouse And Camelot Village | 50 | 0 (not detected) |
| Roseville Apartments | 32 | 0 (not detected) |
| T.J. White Pine Manor Apartments | 32 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Big Rapids, 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 Big Rapids 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.