Princeton Water District, ME
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.8 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.
Princeton Water District at a glance
Princeton Water District serves about 75 people through 30 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 Washington County, Maine. EPA system ID: ME0092388; phone on file: 207-796-2744. 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 2024 (0.63 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Princeton Water District is 3.3 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 0.8 ppb |
| 2024 | 0.63 ppb |
| 2021 | 1.1 ppb |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 3.3 ppb |
| 2018 | 1 ppb |
Against other Maine systems
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. Princeton Water District's 0.8 ppb sits at the 37th percentile in Maine and the 47th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
21 other systems share Washington County; 12 of them have a higher latest lead result than Princeton Water District. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Calais Water Dept | 2,775 | 2.4 ppb |
| Passamaquoddy Water District | 2,125 | 0.8 ppb |
| Lubec Water District | 1,775 | 0.81 ppb |
| Baileyville Utilities District | 1,688 | 3.68 ppb |
| Machias Water Company | 1,390 | 2.4 ppb |
| Indian Township Tribal Water System | 535 | 0 (not detected) |
| Milbridge Water District | 405 | 1.5 ppb |
| Danforth Water District | 313 | 5 ppb |
| Quantabacook Water District | 303 | 0.62 ppb |
| Addison Point Water District | 168 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Princeton, 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 Princeton Water District 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.