Sheldon Water Department, IA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2024). 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.
Sheldon Water Department at a glance
Sheldon Water Department serves about 5,512 people through 2,305 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 O'Brien County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA7170040; phone on file: 712-324-2845. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2024 (1.5 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Sheldon Water Department is 3.5 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 2 ppb |
| 2024 | 1.5 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.6 ppb |
| 2018 | 3.5 ppb |
How Sheldon Water Department compares
Of the 1,066 Iowa systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.4 ppb; 4 are over 15 ppb right now and 36 have gone over at some point. Sheldon Water Department's 2 ppb sits at the 67th percentile in Iowa and the 72nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
6 other systems share O'Brien County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Sheldon Water Department. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Hartley Municipal Water Department | 1,605 | 1.6 ppb |
| Sanborn Water Supply | 1,392 | 0 (not detected) |
| Paullina Municipal Water Supply | 996 | 0 (not detected) |
| Primghar Municipal Water Supply | 902 | 3.3 ppb |
| Sutherland Water Supply | 629 | 1.1 ppb |
| Calumet Water Supply | 146 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Sheldon, IA 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 Sheldon Water Department 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.