Ellsworth Public Water Supply, IA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1 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.
Who runs the water here
Ellsworth Public Water Supply serves about 514 people through 287 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Hamilton County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA4009016; phone on file: 515-836-4751. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2022 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Ellsworth Public Water Supply is 1 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 ppb |
| 2022 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
Where this result ranks
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. Ellsworth Public Water Supply's 1 ppb sits at the 42nd percentile in Iowa and the 53rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Hamilton County
7 other systems share Hamilton County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than Ellsworth Public Water Supply. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Webster City Water Supply | 7,825 | 0 (not detected) |
| Jewell Water Supply | 1,216 | 10 ppb |
| Stratford Muni Water Dept | 707 | 0 (not detected) |
| Stanhope Water Department | 364 | 12 ppb |
| Williams Water Supply | 315 | 2 ppb |
| Blairsburg Water Supply | 177 | 0 (not detected) |
| Randall Water Supply | 154 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Ellsworth, 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 Ellsworth Public Water Supply 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.