Anoka County, Minnesota: drinking water report. Anoka County lies north of Minneapolis, home to about 370,000 residents in communities like Blaine, Coon…
Anoka County lies north of Minneapolis, home to about 370,000 residents in communities like Blaine, Coon Rapids, and Andover. Water sources are mixed – some communities connect to Minneapolis's Mississippi River system, while others rely on groundwater from glacial and bedrock aquifers. The county's northern suburbs have grown rapidly, expanding water demand and infrastructure.
Anoka County falls on the northern edge of the Twin Cities PFAS contamination zone. While the worst contamination is in the east metro (Washington and Ramsey counties), some Anoka County communities have detected PFAS in groundwater. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's statewide PFAS monitoring has identified low-level detections in several Anoka County systems.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health's 2024 data, two public water systems in Anoka County reported PFAS above state health-based guidance values. The county does not host major military installations, so contamination sources are primarily diffuse – wastewater effluent, landfill leachate, and migration from the broader metro contamination pattern.
Anoka County's PFAS situation is less severe than the east metro, but still worth monitoring, especially for groundwater-dependent communities.
Check your water for data specific to your provider. Activated carbon filters handle low-level PFAS effectively; reverse osmosis is better for higher concentrations. Our water filter guide covers both. Pull your detailed report, and visit our Minnesota page for statewide data.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Anoka County, MN.
The EPA places Anoka County, MN in Zone 2 - a moderate-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level between 2 and 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
41% of homes in Anoka County, MN were built before 1980, and 5% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Anoka County, MN averages 6.5 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide