Elk River, MN
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.
Elk River at a glance
Elk River serves about 19,532 people through 5,856 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 Sherburne County, Minnesota. EPA system ID: MN1710004; phone on file: 7634412020. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2022 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Elk River is 2 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 ppb |
| 2022 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 2 ppb |
| 2016 | 2 ppb |
How Elk River compares
Of the 966 Minnesota systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 7 are over 15 ppb right now and 48 have gone over at some point. Elk River's 2 ppb sits at the 77th percentile in Minnesota and the 73rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
8 other systems share Sherburne County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Elk River. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Big Lake | 13,056 | 1 ppb |
| Zimmerman | 6,772 | 2 ppb |
| Becker | 5,034 | 0 (not detected) |
| Clear Lake | 802 | 1 ppb |
| Sherburne Village | 200 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ridges Of Rice Lake Housing Development | 180 | 0 (not detected) |
| Shores Of Eagle Lake | 160 | 0 (not detected) |
| Windsor Oaks Development | 80 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Elk River, MN 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 Elk River 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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.