Veblen, SD
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1 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 Veblen
Veblen serves about 317 people through 123 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Marshall County, South Dakota. EPA system ID: SD4600341; phone on file: 6057382521. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Veblen's lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Veblen is 1 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 ppb |
| 2021 | 1 ppb |
| 2018 | 1 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. Veblen's 1 ppb sits at the 31st percentile in South Dakota and the 52nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Marshall County
6 other systems share Marshall County; 4 of them have a higher latest lead result than Veblen. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Britton | 1,215 | 2 ppb |
| Langford | 283 | 2 ppb |
| Sunset Colony | 140 | 1 ppb |
| Eden | 94 | 2 ppb |
| Lake City | 45 | 1 ppb |
| Amherst Water Company | 40 | 2 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Veblen, 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 Veblen 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.