Sioux Falls, SD
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3 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.
About Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls serves about 216,462 people through 63,541 service connections, which makes it a very large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Minnehaha County, South Dakota. EPA system ID: SD4600294; phone on file: 6053736946. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
That is up 2 ppb from 1 ppb in the period ending 2021. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Sioux Falls is 3 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 3 ppb |
| 2021 | 1 ppb |
| 2018 | 1 ppb |
Where this result ranks
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. Sioux Falls's 3 ppb sits at the 82nd percentile in South Dakota and the 83rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
13 other systems share Minnehaha County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Sioux Falls. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Brandon | 11,048 | 1 ppb |
| Dell Rapids | 3,633 | 2 ppb |
| Hartford | 3,396 | 1 ppb |
| Crooks | 1,362 | 1 ppb |
| Baltic | 1,271 | 1 ppb |
| Garretson | 1,228 | 1 ppb |
| Valley Springs | 925 | 0 (not detected) |
| Colton | 738 | 1 ppb |
| Humboldt | 579 | 1 ppb |
| Pine Lake Hills | 320 | 2 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Sioux Falls, 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 Sioux Falls 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.