Dickens Water Works, IA
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2024-2026). 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
Dickens Water Works serves about 146 people through 79 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 Clay County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA2109041; phone on file: 712-262-8847. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Dickens Water Works's lead record
Against the period ending 2023 (0.2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Dickens Water Works is 0.6 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0.2 ppb |
| 2020 | 0.6 ppb |
| 2017 | 0.4 ppb |
How Dickens Water Works compares
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. Dickens Water Works's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 8th percentile in Iowa and the 12th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Other water systems in Clay County
4 other systems share Clay County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Dickens Water Works. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Spencer Municipal Water Utility | 11,325 | 0 (not detected) |
| Everly Water Supply | 575 | 8.3 ppb |
| Peterson Municipal Water Supply | 322 | 4.2 ppb |
| Fostoria Municipal Water Supply | 233 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Look up your address in Dickens Water Works'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 Dickens 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. A zero today does not rule out a jump later - the rules are tightening in 2027.