Buffalo Water Supply, IA
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2022-2024). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. The latest 90th-percentile result was reported as 0 (not detected at the lab's limit). That says the sampled homes were low, not that your home has no lead service line. Check your utility's service line inventory for your address.
Who runs the water here
Buffalo Water Supply serves about 1,176 people through 450 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 Scott County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA8218050. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Buffalo Water Supply's lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Buffalo Water Supply is 2.2 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 1 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.2 ppb |
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. Buffalo Water Supply's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 24th percentile in Iowa and the 28th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Other water systems in Scott County
47 other systems share Scott County; 36 of them have a higher latest lead result than Buffalo Water Supply. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Iowa-American Wtr Co-Davenport | 147,720 | 1 ppb |
| Eldridge Water Supply | 6,726 | 1.3 ppb |
| Park View Water & Sanitary District | 2,389 | 1 ppb |
| Walcott Waterworks | 1,551 | 0 (not detected) |
| Princeton Water Supply | 923 | 5.2 ppb |
| Long Grove Muni Water Supply | 838 | 1.5 ppb |
| Iowa American Water Donahue | 335 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ponderosa Park Mhp | 320 | 0 (not detected) |
| Village Oaks Homeowners Assn | 250 | 2 ppb |
| Dodds Valley View Water Assn | 220 | 5.4 ppb |
Next steps for Buffalo, IA
Look up your address in Buffalo Water Supply's service line inventory. If it says lead, galvanized or unknown, test your tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Buffalo Water Supply 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. Small systems behave differently: why small systems go over more often.