South Chester Water Dist, MT
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 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.
South Chester Water Dist at a glance
South Chester Water Dist serves about 55 people through 26 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws surface water, in Liberty County, Montana. EPA system ID: MT0000007; phone on file: 406-759-6444. 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 2018 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for South Chester Water Dist is 2 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 2 ppb |
| 2018 | 2 ppb |
Against other Montana systems
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. South Chester Water Dist's 2 ppb sits at the 65th percentile in Montana and the 69th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
7 other systems share Liberty County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than South Chester Water Dist. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Chester Town Of | 870 | 3 ppb |
| Sage Creek Co Water District | 225 | 5 ppb |
| Ncmrwa Tiber Service Area | 200 | - |
| Riverview Colony | 130 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sage Creek Colony | 130 | 0 (not detected) |
| Eagle Creek Colony | 125 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hi-Line Colony | 92 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Chester, MT
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Chester, 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 South Chester Water Dist 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.