Saint Joseph, MN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 5 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.
About Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph serves about 7,100 people through 1,893 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized 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: MN1730033; phone on file: 3203637201. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
That is down 2 ppb from 7 ppb in the period ending 2020. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Saint Joseph is 7 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 5 ppb |
| 2020 | 7 ppb |
| 2017 | 6 ppb |
How Saint Joseph 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. Saint Joseph's 5 ppb sits at the 92nd percentile in Minnesota and the 91st nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Stearns County
31 other systems share Stearns County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Saint Joseph. 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) |
| 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 |
| Avon | 1,667 | 5 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; St. Joseph, 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 Saint Joseph 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. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.