Calais Water Dept, ME
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2.4 ppb (monitoring period 2025-2025). 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 Calais Water Dept
Calais Water Dept serves about 2,775 people through 1,110 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Washington County, Maine. EPA system ID: ME0090290; phone on file: 207-223-2232. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2024 (2.95 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Calais Water Dept is 3.4 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.4 ppb |
| 2024 | 2.95 ppb |
| 2022 | 2.9 ppb |
| 2019 | 2.3 ppb |
| 2016 | 3.4 ppb |
How Calais Water Dept compares
Of the 358 Maine systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.5 ppb; 2 are over 15 ppb right now and 40 have gone over at some point. Calais Water Dept's 2.4 ppb sits at the 68th percentile in Maine and the 77th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
21 other systems share Washington County; 5 of them have a higher latest lead result than Calais Water Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Passamaquoddy Water District | 2,125 | 0.8 ppb |
| Lubec Water District | 1,775 | 0.81 ppb |
| Baileyville Utilities District | 1,688 | 3.68 ppb |
| Machias Water Company | 1,390 | 2.4 ppb |
| Indian Township Tribal Water System | 535 | 0 (not detected) |
| Milbridge Water District | 405 | 1.5 ppb |
| Danforth Water District | 313 | 5 ppb |
| Quantabacook Water District | 303 | 0.62 ppb |
| Addison Point Water District | 168 | 0 (not detected) |
| Narraguagus Estates | 97 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Winterport, ME 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 Calais Water Dept 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.