Franklin Water Utility, WI
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2023). 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.
Franklin Water Utility at a glance
Franklin Water Utility serves about 22,500 people through 8,333 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 Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. EPA system ID: WI2410563. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Franklin Water Utility's lead record
Against the period ending 2020 (3.2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Franklin Water Utility is 3.2 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 3 ppb |
| 2020 | 3.2 ppb |
| 2019 | 2.7 ppb |
| 2018 | 3.1 ppb |
How Franklin Water Utility compares
Of the 947 Wisconsin systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.33 ppb; 6 are over 15 ppb right now and 71 have gone over at some point. Franklin Water Utility's 3 ppb sits at the 76th percentile in Wisconsin and the 83rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Milwaukee County
16 other systems share Milwaukee County; 8 of them have a higher latest lead result than Franklin Water Utility. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Waterworks | 626,000 | 5.3 ppb |
| West Allis Waterworks | 63,240 | 2.4 ppb |
| Wauwatosa Waterworks | 49,064 | 8.4 ppb |
| North Shore Water Commission | 35,598 | 11 ppb |
| Oak Creek Waterworks | 32,104 | 2 ppb |
| South Milwaukee Waterworks | 21,340 | 7.7 ppb |
| Cudahy Waterworks | 18,659 | 13 ppb |
| Greendale Waterworks | 14,393 | 0.32 ppb |
| Whitefish Bay Waterworks | 14,272 | 4.7 ppb |
| Shorewood Waterworks | 13,535 | 3.2 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Franklin, WI 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 Franklin Water Utility 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.