Central Water Works, IA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2025). 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.
About Central Water Works
Central Water Works serves about 27 people through 17 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Webster County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA9400801; phone on file: 515-571-5070. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
That is up 2 ppb from 0 ppb in the period ending 2022. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Central Water Works is 6 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 6 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. Central Water Works's 2 ppb sits at the 57th percentile in Iowa and the 69th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
22 other systems share Webster County; 5 of them have a higher latest lead result than Central Water Works. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Fort Dodge Water Supply | 25,874 | 1 ppb |
| Gowrie Muni Utilities Water Dept | 954 | 3 ppb |
| Dayton Municipal Water Supply | 772 | 0 (not detected) |
| Badger Water Supply | 561 | 1 ppb |
| Otho Water Supply | 431 | 1 ppb |
| Palace Park Mhc | 426 | 0 (not detected) |
| Lehigh Water Supply | 395 | 0 (not detected) |
| Duncombe Water Supply | 384 | 0 (not detected) |
| Callender Water Supply | 371 | 0 (not detected) |
| Harcourt Water Supply | 265 | 2 ppb |
Next steps for Fort Dodge, IA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Fort Dodge, IA 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 Central Water Works 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.