Montello Water System, NV
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.2 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2025). 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.
Who runs the water here
Montello Water System serves about 287 people through 114 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Elko County, Nevada. EPA system ID: NV0000169; phone on file: 775-748-0219. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Montello Water System's lead record
Against the period ending 2022 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Montello Water System is 4 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.2 ppb |
| 2022 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 4 ppb |
| 2016 | 2.3 ppb |
Against other Nevada systems
Of the 204 Nevada systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 0 are over 15 ppb right now and 13 have gone over at some point. Montello Water System's 1.2 ppb sits at the 58th percentile in Nevada and the 59th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
15 other systems share Elko County; 6 of them have a higher latest lead result than Montello Water System. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Elko City Of | 23,000 | 3 ppb |
| Great Basin Water Co Spring Creek | 9,340 | 1.1 ppb |
| West Wendover Water System | 4,535 | 0 (not detected) |
| Great Basin Water Co Spring Creek Mhp | 3,640 | 0 (not detected) |
| Carlin Utilities | 2,500 | 4 ppb |
| Wells Municipal Water Department | 1,300 | 1.8 ppb |
| Jackpot Water System | 1,240 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ruby Dome Holdings Dba Elko Rv Park | 357 | 4.3 ppb |
| Valley View Rv Park | 250 | 0 (not detected) |
| Lamoille Water Users Assoc | 200 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Elko, NV
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Elko, NV 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 Montello Water System 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.