Copper City, MI
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.43 ppb (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. 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.
Who runs the water here
Copper City serves about 210 people through 117 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Houghton County, Michigan. EPA system ID: MI0001620; phone on file: 906-337-4421. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Copper City's lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (0.28 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Copper City is 4.5 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 0.43 ppb |
| 2021 | 0.28 ppb |
| 2020 | 1.3 ppb |
| 2020 | 0.6 ppb |
| 2019 | 4.5 ppb |
| 2019 | 0.68 ppb |
Against other Michigan systems
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. Copper City's 0.43 ppb sits at the 38th percentile in Michigan and the 42nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
16 other systems share Houghton County; 12 of them have a higher latest lead result than Copper City. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Houghton | 8,386 | 5.5 ppb |
| Upper Michigan Water Company | 5,535 | 1.6 ppb |
| Hancock | 4,500 | 1.1 ppb |
| Adams Township | 2,010 | - |
| Laurium | 1,947 | 0 (not detected) |
| Osceola Township | 1,391 | 3.6 ppb |
| Portage Township | 1,214 | 2.1 ppb |
| Lake Linden | 1,203 | 1.3 ppb |
| Torch Lake Township | 946 | 0.66 ppb |
| Chassell Township | 800 | 1.3 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Copper City, 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 Copper City 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.