Lake Linden, MI
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.3 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.
About Lake Linden
Lake Linden serves about 1,203 people through 550 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 Houghton County, Michigan. EPA system ID: MI0003720; phone on file: 906-296-9911. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lake Linden's lead record
The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Lake Linden is 1.3 ppb across 1 monitoring period, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.3 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. Lake Linden's 1.3 ppb sits at the 53rd percentile in Michigan and the 60th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
16 other systems share Houghton County; 6 of them have a higher latest lead result than Lake Linden. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Houghton | 8,386 | 5.5 ppb |
| Upper Michigan Water Company | 5,535 | 1.6 ppb |
| Hancock | 4,500 | 1.1 ppb |
| Adams Township | 2,010 | - |
| Laurium | 1,947 | 0 (not detected) |
| Osceola Township | 1,391 | 3.6 ppb |
| Portage Township | 1,214 | 2.1 ppb |
| Torch Lake Township | 946 | 0.66 ppb |
| Chassell Township | 800 | 1.3 ppb |
| South Range | 745 | 0.94 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Lake Linden, 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 Lake Linden 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.