Malfunction Junction, MO
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2024-2026). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. The latest 90th-percentile result was reported as 0 (not detected at the lab's limit). That says the sampled homes were low, not that your home has no lead service line. Check your utility's service line inventory for your address.
About Malfunction Junction
Malfunction Junction serves about 37 people through 20 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Jasper County, Missouri. EPA system ID: MO5031602. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Malfunction Junction's lead record
That is down 4.81 ppb from 4.81 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Malfunction Junction is 7.02 ppb across 9 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 4.81 ppb |
| 2023 | 4.81 ppb |
| 2022 | 7.02 ppb |
| 2020 | 7.02 ppb |
| 2019 | 5.41 ppb |
| 2017 | 5.41 ppb |
| 2016 | 3.62 ppb |
| 2016 | 3.62 ppb |
Against other Missouri systems
Of the 1,674 Missouri systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.04 ppb; 2 are over 15 ppb right now and 74 have gone over at some point. Malfunction Junction's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 2nd percentile in Missouri and the 2nd nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Neighbouring systems
16 other systems share Jasper County; 11 of them have a higher latest lead result than Malfunction Junction. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Mo American Joplin | 73,728 | 4 ppb |
| Carthage Pws | 14,600 | 1.86 ppb |
| Webb City Pws | 13,404 | 3.58 ppb |
| Carl Junction Pws | 8,142 | 1.47 ppb |
| Jasper County Pwsd 1 | 5,500 | 2.82 ppb |
| Jasper County Pwsd 2 | 3,383 | 0 (not detected) |
| Oronogo Pws | 2,719 | 1.24 ppb |
| Carterville Pws | 1,982 | 1.64 ppb |
| Jasper County Pwsd 3 | 1,900 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sarcoxie Pws | 1,539 | 3.35 ppb |
Next steps for Carthage, MO
Look up your address in Malfunction Junction's service line inventory. If it says lead, galvanized or unknown, test your tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Malfunction Junction 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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Small systems behave differently: why small systems go over more often.