Data & Methodology — Itasca County

Full contaminant data, sample history, and sourcing for Itasca County. For readers who want to go beyond the summary.

Contaminant Data — All Analytes

397 well testing events on record, covering 17 analytes. Data spans 1956 to 2024.

Contaminant Samples Years Detection Rate Distribution LowModHigh vs. Limit vs. MN Avg
Manganese 154 1956–2025 76%
240% of limit ↓ 51% below
Iron 167 1956–2025 84%
100% of limit ↓ 86% below
PFOA municipal 35 2019–2025 49%
67% of limit ↓ 84% below
PFOS municipal 26 2024–2025 50%
67% of limit ↓ 67% below
Arsenic 90 1980–2025 26%
12% of limit ↓ 85% below
Sulfate 153 1956–2025 94%
2% of limit ↓ 87% below
Lead 90 1980–2025 18%
2% of limit ↓ 96% below
Chloride 373 1956–2025 95%
2% of limit ↓ 79% below
Fluoride 102 1956–2025 74%
8% of limit ~ typical
HFPO-DA (GenX) municipal 17 2022–2025 0%
— —
Nitrate 66 1956–2012 45%
1% of limit ↓ 94% below
PFHxS municipal 4 2024 50%
55% of limit ↓ 32% below
PFNA municipal 21 2019–2025 14%
19% of limit ~ typical
Sodium 157 1956–2025 99%
— ↓ 78% below
pH 58 1956–2013 100%
— ~ typical
PFBS municipal 4 2024 50%
— ↓ 40% below
Hardness 54 1956–1990 100%
— ↓ 32% below

Distribution shows the share of samples in each concentration band relative to the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL): Low = below half the MCL, Moderate = between half and the MCL, High = above the MCL. Analytes without an MCL (e.g. sodium, pH) show — in the limit columns. State average is based on county median values across MN.

Compare your result with Itasca County

Of the 90 arsenic tests on record for Itasca County (1980–2025), 74% found none.

Of the 373 chloride tests on record for Itasca County (1956–2025), 5% found none, and half were below 3.71 mg/L.

Of the 102 fluoride tests on record for Itasca County (1956–2025), 26% found none, and half were below 200 µg/L.

Of the 167 iron tests on record for Itasca County (1956–2025), 16% found none, and half were below 150 µg/L.

Of the 90 lead tests on record for Itasca County (1980–2025), 82% found none.

Of the 154 manganese tests on record for Itasca County (1956–2025), 24% found none, and half were below 60 µg/L.

Of the 66 nitrate tests on record for Itasca County (1956–2012), 55% found none.

Of the 33 pfoa tests on record for Itasca County (2019–2025), 48% found none, and half were below 0.879 ng/L.

Of the 24 pfos tests on record for Itasca County (2024–2025), 46% found none, and half were below 0.809 ng/L.

Of the 153 sulfate tests on record for Itasca County (1956–2025), 6% found none, and half were below 5.6 mg/L.

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Data Coverage & Gaps

Well-sampled analytes (15+ samples)

  • Manganese 154 samples
  • Iron 167 samples
  • PFOA 35 samples
  • PFOS 26 samples
  • Arsenic 90 samples
  • Sulfate 153 samples
  • Lead 90 samples
  • Chloride 373 samples
  • Fluoride 102 samples
  • HFPO-DA (GenX) 17 samples
  • Nitrate 66 samples
  • PFNA 21 samples
  • Sodium 157 samples
  • pH 58 samples
  • Hardness 54 samples

Limited data (<15 samples) — interpret with caution

  • PFHxS 4 samples
  • PFBS 4 samples

Public vs. Private Water in Itasca County

229 Active public water systems
30,771 Residents on public water
58% Households on private wells

Public water systems in Itasca County are regulated by the EPA and must test and report contaminant levels. Private well owners are responsible for their own testing — there is no routine monitoring of private wells by any government agency.

CDC Health Outcome Correlations

Where contaminants detected in Itasca County have established associations with specific health outcomes, we cross-reference CDC PLACES county-level prevalence data. This is a contextual signal, not a causal claim.

Contaminant Associated Condition Itasca County Prevalence MN Average Source Year
Arsenic Cancer prevalence 6.1% 7.0% 2020
Arsenic Kidney disease rate 3.5% 2.9% 2020
Lead Heart disease rate 8.8% 6.6% 2020

Source: CDC PLACES county-level estimates. Raw data: Download Itasca County CDC PLACES data →

Data Sources

This report aggregates data from the following public databases:

Methodology

Raw records are downloaded from the Water Quality Portal and normalized to µg/L (ppb). Records are deduplicated by sample ID and date, and certified outliers are excluded. Analyte names are mapped to EPA canonical forms. Detection rates, distribution bands, and MCL comparisons are computed from the normalized dataset.

Distribution bands use the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level as the threshold: concentrations below 50% of the MCL are classed as Low, between 50% and 100% as Moderate, and above 100% as High. For analytes without an MCL (sodium, hardness, pH), distribution is not computed.

State comparison uses the median of county median values across all counties in MN with at least one sample for that analyte.

Last updated: 2026-08-04

Full methodology →