Columbus Town Of, MT
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2026). 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 Columbus Town Of
Columbus Town Of serves about 1,900 people through 957 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 Stillwater County, Montana. EPA system ID: MT0000185; phone on file: 406-322-4424. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2017 (4 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Columbus Town Of is 4 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 3 ppb |
| 2017 | 4 ppb |
How Columbus Town Of 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. Columbus Town Of's 3 ppb sits at the 86th percentile in Montana and the 82nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Stillwater County
6 other systems share Stillwater County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Columbus Town Of. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Absarokee Water And Sewer Dist | 1,100 | 14 ppb |
| Country Haven Estates Whispering Pines | 100 | 0 (not detected) |
| Rapelje Water District | 70 | 3 ppb |
| Eagle Mountain Rural Pws | 50 | 4 ppb |
| Hilltop Water | 50 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sherwood Water Station | 25 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Columbus, 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 Columbus Town Of 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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.