Portage, MI
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.8 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.
Who runs the water here
Portage serves about 46,292 people through 9,347 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. EPA system ID: MI0005520; phone on file: 269-329-4400. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
That is up 1.8 ppb from 0 ppb in the period ending 2020. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Portage is 1.8 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 1.8 ppb |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
How Portage compares
Of the 1,227 Michigan systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 31 are over 15 ppb right now and 109 have gone over at some point. Portage's 1.8 ppb sits at the 60th percentile in Michigan and the 68th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Kalamazoo County
17 other systems share Kalamazoo County; 6 of them have a higher latest lead result than Portage. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Kalamazoo | 192,992 | 4 ppb |
| Vicksburg | 2,906 | - |
| Galesburg | 2,377 | 2.9 ppb |
| Augusta | 885 | 0 (not detected) |
| Climax | 767 | 3 ppb |
| Nazarene Camp | 648 | 19.5 ppb |
| Royal Estates | 380 | 1.78 ppb |
| Climax Mobile Home Park | 198 | - |
| Evergreen Park | 190 | 1 ppb |
| The Bluffs At Gull Lake | 180 | - |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Portage, MI 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 Portage 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.