Richmond, MN
Above the federal action level
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 85 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2026). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. In the most recent monitoring period, more than 10% of the sampled homes measured above 15 ppb. Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead for drinking and cooking now, and test your own tap.
Who runs the water here
Richmond serves about 1,506 people through 633 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 Stearns County, Minnesota. EPA system ID: MN1730022; phone on file: 3205972075. 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 83 ppb from 2 ppb in the period ending 2023. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Richmond is 85 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 85 ppb over 15 |
| 2023 | 2 ppb |
How Richmond compares
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. Richmond's 85 ppb sits at the 100th percentile in Minnesota and the 100th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Stearns County
31 other systems share Stearns County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Richmond. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Saint Cloud | 71,321 | 3 ppb |
| Sartell | 20,300 | 2 ppb |
| Waite Park | 8,354 | 0 (not detected) |
| Saint Joseph | 7,100 | 5 ppb |
| Sauk Centre | 4,657 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cold Spring | 4,201 | 3 ppb |
| Melrose | 3,886 | 0 (not detected) |
| Albany | 2,805 | 0 (not detected) |
| Paynesville | 2,575 | 0 (not detected) |
| Saint John'S University | 2,500 | 2 ppb |
What to do in your house
Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead on the tap you drink and cook from, now, before you test. Then test your own tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Richmond 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.