Orono, MN
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2026-2026). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. The latest 90th-percentile result was reported as 0 (not detected at the lab's limit). That says the sampled homes were low, not that your home has no lead service line. Check your utility's service line inventory for your address.
Who runs the water here
Orono serves about 2,505 people through 1,147 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Hennepin County, Minnesota. EPA system ID: MN1270041; phone on file: 9522494605. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Orono's lead record
Against the period ending 2025 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Orono is 3 ppb across 13 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 2 ppb |
| 2021 | 1 ppb |
| 2021 | 1 ppb |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 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. Orono's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 44th percentile in Minnesota and the 32nd nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Nearby utilities
41 other systems share Hennepin County; 21 of them have a higher latest lead result than Orono. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis | 425,300 | 2 ppb |
| Bloomington | 91,300 | 2 ppb |
| Brooklyn Park | 89,995 | 1 ppb |
| Maple Grove | 82,000 | 2 ppb |
| Plymouth | 76,546 | 2 ppb |
| Eden Prairie | 63,726 | 0 (not detected) |
| Minnetonka | 54,474 | 0 (not detected) |
| Edina | 53,494 | 0 (not detected) |
| Saint Louis Park | 50,010 | 4 ppb |
| Richfield | 38,482 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Look up your address in Orono's service line inventory. If it says lead, galvanized or unknown, test your tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Orono whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1380 ppb (copper action level 1,300 ppb).
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. A zero today does not rule out a jump later - the rules are tightening in 2027.