Hills Water Supply, IA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 ppb (monitoring period 2021-2023). 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.
Hills Water Supply at a glance
Hills Water Supply serves about 863 people through 365 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 Johnson County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA5221001; phone on file: 319-356-5170. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2020 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Hills Water Supply is 4 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 2 ppb |
| 2020 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2018 | 3 ppb |
| 2017 | 3 ppb |
| 2017 | 4 ppb |
Against other Iowa systems
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. Hills Water Supply's 2 ppb sits at the 64th percentile in Iowa and the 71st nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
74 other systems share Johnson County; 22 of them have a higher latest lead result than Hills Water Supply. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Iowa City Water Department | 68,753 | 4 ppb |
| University Water System | 47,136 | 0 (not detected) |
| North Liberty Water Supply | 23,276 | 0 (not detected) |
| Coralville Muni Water System | 22,318 | 3 ppb |
| Tiffin Water Supply | 7,577 | 0 (not detected) |
| Solon Water Dept | 3,018 | 7 ppb |
| Lone Tree Muni Water System | 1,357 | 2 ppb |
| Lake Ridge, Incorporated | 1,300 | 0 (not detected) |
| Modern Manor, Inc | 915 | 1 ppb |
| Western Hills (Mobile) Estates | 760 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Hills, IA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Hills, 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 Hills 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. 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.