Salem, SD
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3 ppb (monitoring period 2025-2025). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. The latest result is under the action level, but this system has gone over 15 ppb before. Lead comes from pipes, not the source water, so a home with a lead service line can still be exposed. Test your own tap.
Who runs the water here
Salem serves about 1,325 people through 663 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 Mccook County, South Dakota. EPA system ID: SD4600288; phone on file: 6054252301. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
That is down 25 ppb from 28 ppb in the period ending 2024. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Salem is 28 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 ppb |
| 2024 | 28 ppb over 15 |
| 2021 | 3 ppb |
| 2018 | 9 ppb |
Against other South Dakota systems
Of the 458 South Dakota systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 2 ppb; 0 are over 15 ppb right now and 6 have gone over at some point. Salem's 3 ppb sits at the 79th percentile in South Dakota and the 82nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
4 other systems share Mccook County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Salem. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Canistota | 642 | 2 ppb |
| Bridgewater | 511 | 1 ppb |
| Montrose | 468 | 2 ppb |
| Spencer | 170 | 3 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Salem, SD 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 Salem 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. More in what a past exceedance means today.