Independence Water Dept, IA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 7.1 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2024). 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.
Independence Water Dept at a glance
Independence Water Dept serves about 6,064 people through 3,052 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Buchanan County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA1037070; phone on file: 319-334-3750. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Independence Water Dept's lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (7.3 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Independence Water Dept is 7.3 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 7.1 ppb |
| 2021 | 7.3 ppb |
| 2018 | 7.2 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. Independence Water Dept's 7.1 ppb sits at the 94th percentile in Iowa and the 95th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
9 other systems share Buchanan County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Independence Water Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Jesup Municipal Water Supply | 2,508 | 1.7 ppb |
| Fairbank Water Supply | 1,111 | 1.6 ppb |
| Winthrop Water Supply | 840 | 3.5 ppb |
| Hazleton Water Supply | 713 | 1.45 ppb |
| Lamont Water Supply | 429 | 13 ppb |
| Brandon Water Supply | 341 | 3.2 ppb |
| Hazleton Mobile Home Park | 150 | 0 (not detected) |
| Pints Water Association | 96 | 13.1 ppb |
| River Ridge Hoa | 60 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Independence, IA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Independence, 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 Independence Water Dept 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.