North Harlem Colony, MT
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 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.
About North Harlem Colony
North Harlem Colony serves about 42 people through 6 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Blaine County, Montana. EPA system ID: MT0001771; phone on file: 406-353-4617. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
North Harlem Colony's lead record
Against the period ending 2019 (3 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for North Harlem Colony is 3 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 3 ppb |
| 2018 | 3 ppb |
Where this result ranks
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. North Harlem Colony's 2 ppb sits at the 64th percentile in Montana and the 69th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Blaine County
5 other systems share Blaine County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than North Harlem Colony. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Chinook City Of | 1,300 | 0 (not detected) |
| Harlem City Of | 820 | 1 ppb |
| Perrys Water Service | 100 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hartland Colony | 73 | 0 (not detected) |
| Turner Colony | 50 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Harlem, 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 North Harlem Colony 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.