Council Bluffs Water Works, IA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 ppb (monitoring period 2021-2023). 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
Council Bluffs Water Works serves about 64,447 people through 22,374 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 surface water, in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA7820080; phone on file: 712-328-1006. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Council Bluffs Water Works's lead record
Against the period ending 2019 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Council Bluffs Water Works is 5 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 2 ppb |
| 2018 | 1 ppb |
| 2017 | 2 ppb |
| 2017 | 2 ppb |
| 2016 | 5 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. Council Bluffs Water Works's 2 ppb sits at the 67th percentile in Iowa and the 73rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
14 other systems share Pottawattamie County; 4 of them have a higher latest lead result than Council Bluffs Water Works. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Carter Lake Water District | 3,791 | 3 ppb |
| Avoca Water Works | 1,697 | 0 (not detected) |
| Urban Bluffs - North | 1,558 | 2 ppb |
| Oakland Munic Water Utility | 1,524 | 1.3 ppb |
| Treynor Water Department | 1,049 | 5 ppb |
| Neola Light & Water | 906 | 4.4 ppb |
| Lakeside Estates Llc | 823 | 0 (not detected) |
| Crescent Water Supply | 778 | 0 (not detected) |
| Walnut Municipal Utilities | 768 | 0 (not detected) |
| Carson Water Supply | 766 | 1 ppb |
Next steps for Council Bluffs, IA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Council Bluffs, 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 Council Bluffs 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.