Hector, MN
Above the federal action level
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 50 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2026). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. In the most recent monitoring period, more than 10% of the sampled homes measured above 15 ppb. Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead for drinking and cooking now, and test your own tap.
Hector at a glance
Hector serves about 1,127 people through 580 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 Renville County, Minnesota. EPA system ID: MN1650009; phone on file: 3208482122. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
That is up 47 ppb from 3 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Hector is 50 ppb across 7 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 50 ppb over 15 |
| 2025 | 3 ppb |
| 2024 | 2 ppb |
| 2024 | 2 ppb |
| 2023 | 1 ppb |
| 2022 | 4 ppb |
| 2021 | 2 ppb |
Against other Minnesota systems
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. Hector's 50 ppb sits at the 100th percentile in Minnesota and the 100th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
9 other systems share Renville County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Hector. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Olivia | 2,353 | 0 (not detected) |
| Renville | 1,301 | 5 ppb |
| Fairfax | 1,295 | 0 (not detected) |
| Bird Island | 1,024 | 2 ppb |
| Buffalo Lake | 703 | 0 (not detected) |
| Franklin | 496 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sacred Heart | 485 | 2 ppb |
| Danube | 446 | 0 (not detected) |
| Morton | 400 | 14 ppb |
Next steps for Hector, MN
Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead on the tap you drink and cook from, now, before you test. Then test your own tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Hector whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1460 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.