Ocheyedan Water Works, 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.
About Ocheyedan Water Works
Ocheyedan Water Works serves about 439 people through 261 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Osceola County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA7239086; phone on file: 712-720-0553. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2020 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Ocheyedan Water Works is 2 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 2 ppb |
| 2020 | 1 ppb |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
How Ocheyedan Water Works compares
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. Ocheyedan Water Works's 2 ppb sits at the 63rd percentile in Iowa and the 71st nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
6 other systems share Osceola County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Ocheyedan Water Works. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Osceola Rural Water System-North | 7,002 | 4.9 ppb |
| Sibley Public Water Supply | 2,860 | 1 ppb |
| Osceola Rural Water System-South | 2,112 | 1.7 ppb |
| Ashton Municipal Water Department | 456 | 1.6 ppb |
| Melvin Waterworks | 202 | 4.6 ppb |
| Harris Water Supply | 151 | 2 ppb |
Next steps for Ocheyedan, IA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Ocheyedan, 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 Ocheyedan Water Works 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. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.