Red Lodge Water Dept, MT
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3 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. 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.
Red Lodge Water Dept at a glance
Red Lodge Water Dept serves about 2,000 people through 1,888 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Carbon County, Montana. EPA system ID: MT0000314; phone on file: 406-426-0056. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2023 (4 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Red Lodge Water Dept is 5 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 3 ppb |
| 2023 | 4 ppb |
| 2022 | 4 ppb |
| 2021 | 3 ppb |
| 2017 | 5 ppb |
How Red Lodge Water Dept 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. Red Lodge Water Dept's 3 ppb sits at the 86th percentile in Montana and the 82nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Carbon County
11 other systems share Carbon County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Red Lodge Water Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Bridger Town Of | 750 | 4 ppb |
| Joliet Town Of | 600 | 3 ppb |
| Fromberg Town Of | 498 | 5 ppb |
| Roberts Wua Carbon Co Water And Sewer | 300 | 0 (not detected) |
| Belfry Carbon Co Water And Sewer Dist | 205 | 1 ppb |
| Bearcreek Municipal Water Sys | 200 | 3 ppb |
| Vwa Services | 93 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cooney Enterprises | 50 | 0 (not detected) |
| Rio Vista Estates Hoa Assoc Inc | 50 | 3 ppb |
| Evergreen Subdivision | 45 | 2 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Red Lodge, 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 Red Lodge Water Dept 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.