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Is Austin, MN tap water safe?

3 utilities serve Austin, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and Minnesota’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

1 of the 3 utilities serving Austin has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Minnesota’s records: City Limits.

Austin Utilities, which serves the most people here, has 2 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 20.5 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Austin’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in Austin Utilities’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

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Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Austin

A utility tests the water it sends out. A test of your own tap shows what your pipes add, and on a private well it is the only test there is. It takes a lab Minnesota certifies.

The 3 labs Minnesota certifies closest to Austin, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Southeastern Minnesota Water Analysis Laboratory

    Rochester, MN · about 35 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (507) 328-7495

  • Fillmore SWCD Water Quality Laboratory

    Preston, MN · about 43 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (507) 765-3878

  • UC Laboratory

    Janesville, MN · about 46 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, metals

    (507) 234-5835

All 24 certified labs for Minnesota

ZIP codes in Austin

Which ZIP codes are in Austin: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: Minnesota Department of Health, accredited labs in Minnesota accepting drinking water samples from private well users; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Austin

Towns nearby with a page of their own.

What to do next