Pelican Rapids, MN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 7 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2024). 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
Pelican Rapids serves about 2,577 people through 778 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 Otter Tail County, Minnesota. EPA system ID: MN1560019. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Every lead result on file
That is up 5 ppb from 2 ppb in the period ending 2021. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Pelican Rapids is 7 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 7 ppb |
| 2021 | 2 ppb |
Against other Minnesota systems
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. Pelican Rapids's 7 ppb sits at the 95th percentile in Minnesota and the 95th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
15 other systems share Otter Tail County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Pelican Rapids. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Fergus Falls | 14,194 | 8 ppb |
| Perham | 3,421 | 3 ppb |
| New York Mills | 1,287 | 0 (not detected) |
| Parkers Prairie | 1,023 | 0 (not detected) |
| Battle Lake | 918 | 2 ppb |
| Henning | 851 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ottertail | 694 | 0 (not detected) |
| Underwood | 380 | 0 (not detected) |
| Vergas | 358 | 5 ppb |
| Deer Creek | 329 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Pelican Rapids, 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 Pelican Rapids whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1560 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. 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.