North Star Zoot Water, MT
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2024). 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
North Star Zoot Water serves about 4,323 people through 2,264 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Gallatin County, Montana. EPA system ID: MT0004284; phone on file: 406-585-4166. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
North Star Zoot Water's lead record
Against the period ending 2023 (3 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for North Star Zoot Water is 4 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 3 ppb |
| 2023 | 3 ppb |
| 2021 | 3 ppb |
| 2020 | 3 ppb |
| 2016 | 4 ppb |
How North Star Zoot 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. North Star Zoot Water's 3 ppb sits at the 87th percentile in Montana and the 82nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
59 other systems share Gallatin County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than North Star Zoot Water. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Bozeman City Of | 56,000 | 1.6 ppb |
| Belgrade City Of | 10,460 | 1.79 ppb |
| West Yellowstone Town Of | 9,899 | 1.25 ppb |
| River Rock County Water And Sewer Dist | 4,200 | 2.81 ppb |
| Rae Water And Sewer Dist 313 | 2,325 | 2.08 ppb |
| Three Forks City Of | 1,900 | 2 ppb |
| Manhattan Town Of | 1,800 | 2 ppb |
| Valley Grove Subdivision | 825 | 2.04 ppb |
| Landmark Subdivision | 750 | 0 (not detected) |
| Elk Grove Water | 672 | 4.38 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Bozeman, 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 Star Zoot 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.