Missoula Water, MT
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 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. The latest result is under the action level, but this system has gone over 15 ppb before. Lead comes from pipes, not the source water, so a home with a lead service line can still be exposed. Test your own tap.
Who runs the water here
Missoula Water serves about 68,200 people through 28,046 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Missoula County, Montana. EPA system ID: MT0000294; phone on file: 406-552-6700. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2023 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Missoula Water is 22 ppb across 9 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 ppb |
| 2023 | 2 ppb |
| 2023 | 22 ppb over 15 |
| 2020 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 2 ppb |
| 2018 | 2 ppb |
| 2017 | 2 ppb |
| 2017 | 2 ppb |
| 2016 | 2 ppb |
How Missoula Water 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. Missoula Water's 2 ppb sits at the 78th percentile in Montana and the 73rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Missoula County
80 other systems share Missoula County; 12 of them have a higher latest lead result than Missoula Water. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Lolo Water And Sewer Dist | 3,315 | 2 ppb |
| Seeley Lake Water District | 1,575 | 4 ppb |
| El Mar Estates Msla Co Water | 1,350 | 1 ppb |
| Westview Mobile Home Park | 947 | 1 ppb |
| Phantom Hills Water System | 810 | 3 ppb |
| Travois Village Mobile Park | 702 | 2 ppb |
| Wye Area Water System | 512 | 1 ppb |
| Grant Creek Water Users Association Inc | 380 | 0 (not detected) |
| Katoonah Lodges | 258 | 3 ppb |
| Sorrel Springs Hoa | 250 | 1 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Missoula, 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 Missoula Water 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. Why an old exceedance still matters: over the limit before, under it now.