Marion Municipal Water Dept, IA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 8.3 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.
Marion Municipal Water Dept at a glance
Marion Municipal Water Dept serves about 41,623 people through 15,383 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 groundwater, in Linn County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA5751035; phone on file: 319-743-6310. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
That is up 1.8 ppb from 6.5 ppb in the period ending 2021. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Marion Municipal Water Dept is 8.3 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 8.3 ppb |
| 2021 | 6.5 ppb |
| 2018 | 4.2 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. Marion Municipal Water Dept's 8.3 ppb sits at the 96th percentile in Iowa and the 96th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
39 other systems share Linn County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Marion Municipal Water Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Cedar Rapids Water Department | 142,364 | 1.62 ppb |
| Hiawatha Water Dept | 7,183 | 0 (not detected) |
| Mount Vernon Water Supply | 4,527 | 1 ppb |
| Fairfax Water Supply | 2,828 | 2 ppb |
| Center Point Water Supply | 2,579 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ely Water Supply | 2,328 | 4 ppb |
| Lisbon Water Supply | 2,233 | 1.7 ppb |
| Palo Water Supply | 1,407 | 1.6 ppb |
| Central City Water Supply | 1,264 | 3 ppb |
| Springville Water Supply | 1,164 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Marion, 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 Marion Municipal 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. 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.