Milford Municipal Utilities, IA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 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.
Who runs the water here
Milford Municipal Utilities serves about 3,431 people through 1,976 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 surface water, in Dickinson County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA3050079; phone on file: 712-338-2401. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2020 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Milford Municipal Utilities is 2 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 2 ppb |
| 2020 | 2 ppb |
| 2017 | 1 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. Milford Municipal Utilities's 2 ppb sits at the 67th percentile in Iowa and the 72nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
9 other systems share Dickinson County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Milford Municipal Utilities. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Spirit Lake Waterworks | 6,167 | 1 ppb |
| Lake Park Municipal Utilities | 1,167 | 4 ppb |
| Arnolds Park Water Department | 1,113 | 2 ppb |
| Okoboji Water Supply | 776 | 1 ppb |
| Wahpeton Water Supply | 408 | 0 (not detected) |
| Terril Municipal Waterworks | 334 | 1 ppb |
| West Okoboji | 308 | 4 ppb |
| Superior Water System | 135 | 0 (not detected) |
| Central Water System | 25 | - |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Milford, 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 Milford Municipal Utilities 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.