Burke Mountain Water Co, VT
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.1 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.
Who runs the water here
Burke Mountain Water Co serves about 1,058 people through 225 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Caledonia County, Vermont. EPA system ID: VT0005503; phone on file: 802-274-4603. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Burke Mountain Water Co's lead record
Against the period ending 2022 (1.1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Burke Mountain Water Co is 1.8 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 1.1 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.1 ppb |
| 2019 | 1.8 ppb |
| 2018 | 1.8 ppb |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
How Burke Mountain Water Co compares
Of the 372 Vermont systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.4 ppb; 7 are over 15 ppb right now and 65 have gone over at some point. Burke Mountain Water Co's 1.1 ppb sits at the 44th percentile in Vermont and the 57th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
19 other systems share Caledonia County; 12 of them have a higher latest lead result than Burke Mountain Water Co. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| St Johnsbury Water System | 5,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Lyndonville Water System | 4,000 | 2.7 ppb |
| Hardwick Town Water System | 1,900 | 3.2 ppb |
| Danville Fire District 1 | 500 | 1.3 ppb |
| St Johnsbury Center F D 1 | 370 | 6.7 ppb |
| East Hardwick Fire District 1 | 350 | 0.6 ppb |
| Barnet Fire District #2 | 205 | 8 ppb |
| Sutton Water System | 185 | 3.9 ppb |
| Mcindoe Falls Fire District 3 | 176 | 1.5 ppb |
| Northeast Kingdom Mhp | 156 | 2.5 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Concord, VT 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 Burke Mountain Water Co 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.