Dubuque Water Works, IA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 5 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.
About Dubuque Water Works
Dubuque Water Works serves about 59,667 people through 23,954 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 groundwater, in Dubuque County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA3126052; phone on file: 563-589-4291. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Every lead result on file
That is down 2 ppb from 7 ppb in the period ending 2020. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Dubuque Water Works is 7 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 5 ppb |
| 2020 | 7 ppb |
| 2019 | 3 ppb |
| 2018 | 3 ppb |
| 2017 | 4 ppb |
How Dubuque 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. Dubuque Water Works's 5 ppb sits at the 89th percentile in Iowa and the 91st nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
29 other systems share Dubuque County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Dubuque Water Works. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Asbury Municipal Water System | 5,943 | 0 (not detected) |
| Dyersville Municipal Water Co | 4,477 | 1.7 ppb |
| Cascade Municipal Water Supply | 2,386 | 0 (not detected) |
| Peosta Water Supply | 2,278 | 0.5 ppb |
| Epworth Water Supply | 2,023 | 5.75 ppb |
| Farley Water Supply | 1,766 | 1.3 ppb |
| Alpine Park | 932 | 4.6 ppb |
| Table Mound Park | 455 | 0 (not detected) |
| New Vienna Water Supply | 382 | 0 (not detected) |
| Worthington Water Supply | 382 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Dubuque, 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 Dubuque 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.