Bearcreek Municipal Water Sys, MT
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2024). 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 Bearcreek Municipal Water Sys
Bearcreek Municipal Water Sys serves about 200 people through 70 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 Carbon County, Montana. EPA system ID: MT0000063; phone on file: 406-446-3129. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Bearcreek Municipal Water Sys's lead record
Against the period ending 2017 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Bearcreek Municipal Water Sys is 3 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 3 ppb |
| 2017 | 2 ppb |
How Bearcreek Municipal Water Sys compares
Of the 753 Montana systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 5 are over 15 ppb right now and 28 have gone over at some point. Bearcreek Municipal Water Sys's 3 ppb sits at the 84th percentile in Montana and the 81st nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
11 other systems share Carbon County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Bearcreek Municipal Water Sys. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Red Lodge Water Dept | 2,000 | 3 ppb |
| Bridger Town Of | 750 | 4 ppb |
| Joliet Town Of | 600 | 3 ppb |
| Fromberg Town Of | 498 | 5 ppb |
| Roberts Wua Carbon Co Water And Sewer | 300 | 0 (not detected) |
| Belfry Carbon Co Water And Sewer Dist | 205 | 1 ppb |
| Vwa Services | 93 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cooney Enterprises | 50 | 0 (not detected) |
| Rio Vista Estates Hoa Assoc Inc | 50 | 3 ppb |
| Evergreen Subdivision | 45 | 2 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Red Lodge, MT 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 Bearcreek Municipal Water Sys 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.