Grand Rapids, MI
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 6.98 ppb (monitoring period 2025-2025). 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
Grand Rapids serves about 306,901 people through 81,816 service connections, which makes it a very large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Kent County, Michigan. EPA system ID: MI0002790; phone on file: 616-456-4055. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2024 (6.03 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Grand Rapids is 14.1 ppb across 8 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (1 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 6.98 ppb |
| 2024 | 6.03 ppb |
| 2023 | 7.89 ppb |
| 2022 | 14.1 ppb over 10 |
| 2021 | 9.59 ppb |
| 2020 | 8.6 ppb |
| 2019 | 6.44 ppb |
| 2016 | 4 ppb |
Against other Michigan systems
Of the 1,227 Michigan systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 31 are over 15 ppb right now and 109 have gone over at some point. Grand Rapids's 6.98 ppb sits at the 92nd percentile in Michigan and the 94th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Kent County
42 other systems share Kent County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Grand Rapids. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Wyoming | 76,501 | 1.7 ppb |
| Plainfield Township | 42,271 | 1.5 ppb |
| Byron-Gaines Utility Authority | 37,464 | 1.6 ppb |
| Kentwood | 36,072 | 2.99 ppb |
| Grandville | 15,948 | 0 (not detected) |
| East Grand Rapids | 11,637 | 10.1 ppb |
| Ada Township | 7,584 | 0 (not detected) |
| Rockford | 7,160 | 0 (not detected) |
| Caledonia Township | 4,573 | 0 (not detected) |
| Lowell | 4,150 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Grand Rapids, MI
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Grand Rapids, MI 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 Grand Rapids 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.