Shellsburg Water Supply, IA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3.1 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2024). 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.
About Shellsburg Water Supply
Shellsburg Water Supply serves about 961 people through 430 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 Benton County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA0670043; phone on file: 319-436-2954. 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 1.5 ppb from 1.6 ppb in the period ending 2021. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Shellsburg Water Supply is 3.1 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 3.1 ppb |
| 2021 | 1.6 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.2 ppb |
How Shellsburg Water Supply 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. Shellsburg Water Supply's 3.1 ppb sits at the 78th percentile in Iowa and the 83rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Benton County
16 other systems share Benton County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Shellsburg Water Supply. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Vinton Municipal Water Dept | 4,938 | 0 (not detected) |
| Belle Plaine Water Dept | 2,380 | 9.8 ppb |
| Atkins Municipal Water Works | 2,056 | 2 ppb |
| Poweshiek Water Association (Cr) | 2,000 | 0.6 ppb |
| Urbana Water Supply | 1,562 | 0 (not detected) |
| Newhall Water Supply | 881 | 2.1 ppb |
| Van Horne Water Works | 779 | 0 (not detected) |
| Blairstown Water Supply | 738 | 0 (not detected) |
| Keystone Water Supply | 599 | 5.9 ppb |
| Norway City Water Supply | 466 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Shellsburg, IA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Shellsburg, 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 Shellsburg Water Supply 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. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.