Whittemore Muni Water Supply, IA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 9.5 ppb (monitoring period 2021-2023). 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 Whittemore Muni Water Supply
Whittemore Muni Water Supply serves about 522 people through 271 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 Kossuth County, Iowa. EPA system ID: IA5595020; phone on file: 515-884-2631. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2020 (10 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Whittemore Muni Water Supply is 10 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 9.5 ppb |
| 2020 | 10 ppb |
| 2017 | 8 ppb |
How Whittemore Muni 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. Whittemore Muni Water Supply's 9.5 ppb sits at the 97th percentile in Iowa and the 97th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Kossuth County
14 other systems share Kossuth County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Whittemore Muni Water Supply. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Algona Municipal Utilities | 5,487 | 5 ppb |
| Bancroft Water Supply | 711 | 0 (not detected) |
| Swea City Water Supply | 584 | 1 ppb |
| Titonka Water Supply | 511 | 6 ppb |
| Burt Water Supply | 418 | 14 ppb |
| Wesley Water Supply | 390 | 4 ppb |
| Lakota Water Supply | 267 | 5 ppb |
| Lu Verne Water Supply | 258 | 4 ppb |
| Fenton Municipal Water Supply | 254 | 14 ppb |
| Lone Rock Water Supply | 146 | 3 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Whittemore, 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 Whittemore Muni 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.