Friesland Waterworks, WI
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (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. The latest result is under the action level, but this system has gone over 15 ppb before. Lead comes from pipes, not the source water, so a home with a lead service line can still be exposed. Test your own tap.
Who runs the water here
Friesland Waterworks serves about 345 people through 127 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 Columbia County, Wisconsin. EPA system ID: WI1110099. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2023 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Friesland Waterworks is 106.3 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 0.81 ppb |
| 2020 | 106.3 ppb over 15 |
| 2017 | 0.57 ppb |
Against other Wisconsin systems
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. Friesland Waterworks's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 9th percentile in Wisconsin and the 20th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Other water systems in Columbia County
22 other systems share Columbia County; 20 of them have a higher latest lead result than Friesland Waterworks. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Portage Waterworks | 10,437 | 6.2 ppb |
| Columbus Utilities | 5,173 | 8.88 ppb |
| Wisconsin Dells Waterworks | 3,232 | 1.7 ppb |
| Lodi Waterworks | 3,146 | 18 ppb |
| Poynette Waterworks | 2,520 | 3.05 ppb |
| Pardeeville Waterworks | 2,151 | 1.7 ppb |
| Harmony Grove San Dist | 1,950 | 3.2 ppb |
| Randolph Water Dept | 1,800 | 1.3 ppb |
| Fall River Waterworks | 1,793 | 0.93 ppb |
| Rio Waterworks | 1,095 | 1.4 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Friesland, 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 Friesland Waterworks whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 4509.5 ppb (copper action level 1,300 ppb).
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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. Why an old exceedance still matters: over the limit before, under it now.