Ellsworth Water Department, ME
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 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.
Ellsworth Water Department at a glance
Ellsworth Water Department serves about 3,910 people through 1,564 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Hancock County, Maine. EPA system ID: ME0090520; phone on file: 207-667-7315. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
That is up 3.7 ppb from 0.3 ppb in the period ending 2024. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Ellsworth Water Department is 7 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 4 ppb |
| 2024 | 0.3 ppb |
| 2021 | 4.8 ppb |
| 2018 | 6.2 ppb |
| 2018 | 7 ppb |
| 2016 | 3.3 ppb |
How Ellsworth Water Department 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. Ellsworth Water Department's 4 ppb sits at the 85th percentile in Maine and the 88th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
29 other systems share Hancock County; 6 of them have a higher latest lead result than Ellsworth Water Department. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Town Of Bar Harbor- Water Division | 4,443 | 3.4 ppb |
| Southwest Harbor Water & Sewer District | 2,480 | 2.1 ppb |
| Maine Water Company Bucksport Division | 1,700 | 2 ppb |
| Mount Desert Water Dist North | 1,623 | 2.48 ppb |
| Castine Water Department | 983 | 0 (not detected) |
| Mount Desert Water Dist -Seal | 865 | 2.77 ppb |
| Winter Harbor Water District | 700 | 1.4 ppb |
| Stonington Water Company | 683 | 1.3 ppb |
| Franklin Water Department | 420 | 3.6 ppb |
| Long Pond Water District | 308 | 4 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Ellsworth, 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 Ellsworth Water Department 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.