Okabena, MN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3 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.
Okabena at a glance
Okabena serves about 188 people through 108 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 Jackson County, Minnesota. EPA system ID: MN1320005; phone on file: 5078534500. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Okabena is 3 ppb across 1 monitoring period, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 3 ppb |
Where this result ranks
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. Okabena's 3 ppb sits at the 80th percentile in Minnesota and the 81st nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
5 other systems share Jackson County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Okabena. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Jackson | 3,323 | 11 ppb |
| Lakefield | 1,694 | 0 (not detected) |
| Heron Lake | 691 | 2 ppb |
| Alpha | 112 | 0 (not detected) |
| Wilder | 60 | 2 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Okabena, 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 Okabena 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.