Oelwein Municipal Water Works, IA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 4.17 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
Oelwein Municipal Water Works serves about 5,920 people through 2,900 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 groundwater, in Fayette County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA3353088; phone on file: 319-283-1197. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2022 (3.18 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Oelwein Municipal Water Works is 8.33 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 4.17 ppb |
| 2022 | 3.18 ppb |
| 2019 | 8.33 ppb |
| 2016 | 2.54 ppb |
How Oelwein Municipal 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. Oelwein Municipal Water Works's 4.17 ppb sits at the 85th percentile in Iowa and the 88th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Fayette County
10 other systems share Fayette County; 5 of them have a higher latest lead result than Oelwein Municipal Water Works. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| West Union Water Supply | 2,540 | 3 ppb |
| Fayette Water Supply | 1,256 | 4.5 ppb |
| Elgin Municipal Water Supply | 685 | 8.5 ppb |
| Clermont Water Supply | 586 | 6.8 ppb |
| Maynard Water Supply | 476 | 0.6 ppb |
| Hawkeye Water Supply | 438 | 0.8 ppb |
| Arlington Water Supply | 419 | 0 (not detected) |
| Waucoma Water Supply | 229 | 9.6 ppb |
| Wadena Water System | 209 | 0.8 ppb |
| Westgate Water Supply | 192 | 4.2 ppb |
Next steps for Oelwein, IA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Oelwein, 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 Oelwein Municipal 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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.