South Hills Water Users Association, MT
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1 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.
Who runs the water here
South Hills Water Users Association serves about 60 people through 29 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Lake County, Montana. EPA system ID: MT0003104; phone on file: 406-951-9518. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2023 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for South Hills Water Users Association is 2 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 ppb |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 2 ppb |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
How South Hills Water Users Association 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. South Hills Water Users Association's 1 ppb sits at the 46th percentile in Montana and the 51st nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
24 other systems share Lake County; 8 of them have a higher latest lead result than South Hills Water Users Association. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Polson City Of | 5,300 | 2 ppb |
| Ronan City Of | 2,483 | 0 (not detected) |
| Pablo Lake County Water And Sewer Dist | 2,175 | 0 (not detected) |
| St Ignatius Town Of | 700 | 1 ppb |
| Woods Bay Water And Sewer District | 685 | 4 ppb |
| Consolidated Charlo Lake Co W And S Dist | 450 | 0 (not detected) |
| Round Butte Water Company | 400 | 2 ppb |
| Jette Meadows Lake Co W And S Dist | 375 | 1 ppb |
| Jette Lake Landowners Association | 295 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ridgewood Estates | 250 | 2 ppb |
Next steps for Polson, MT
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Polson, 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 Hills Water Users Association 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.