Rice Lake, MN
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (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. 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
Rice Lake serves about 1,085 people through 403 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 surface water, in St. Louis County, Minnesota. EPA system ID: MN1690049; phone on file: 2187213778. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2020 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Rice Lake is 0 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
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. Rice Lake's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 37th percentile in Minnesota and the 27th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Other water systems in St. Louis County
29 other systems share St. Louis County; 10 of them have a higher latest lead result than Rice Lake. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Duluth | 86,859 | 8 ppb |
| Hibbing | 16,028 | 14 ppb |
| Virginia | 8,361 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hermantown | 7,215 | 0 (not detected) |
| Chisholm | 4,940 | 4 ppb |
| Eveleth | 3,770 | 3 ppb |
| Ely | 3,258 | 7 ppb |
| Proctor | 3,099 | 2 ppb |
| Mountain Iron | 2,880 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hoyt Lakes | 2,020 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Look up your address in Rice Lake'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 Rice Lake 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. A zero today does not rule out a jump later - the rules are tightening in 2027.