Mankato, MN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2025). 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.
Who runs the water here
Mankato serves about 42,803 people through 10,801 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Blue Earth County, Minnesota. EPA system ID: MN1070009; phone on file: 5073878693. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2022 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Mankato is 2 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 ppb |
| 2022 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2016 | 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. Mankato's 2 ppb sits at the 78th percentile in Minnesota and the 73rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Blue Earth County
16 other systems share Blue Earth County; 4 of them have a higher latest lead result than Mankato. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Eagle Lake | 3,268 | 1 ppb |
| Lake Crystal | 2,554 | 2 ppb |
| Mapleton | 1,756 | 2 ppb |
| Madison Lake | 1,017 | 0 (not detected) |
| Saint Clair | 846 | 6 ppb |
| Good Thunder | 583 | 2 ppb |
| Amboy | 535 | 6 ppb |
| South Bend Township | 325 | 1 ppb |
| Vernon Center | 323 | 1 ppb |
| Skyline | 289 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Mankato, MN 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 Mankato 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.