The Nines Subdivision, MT
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2024). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. The latest result is under the action level, but this system has gone over 15 ppb before. Lead comes from pipes, not the source water, so a home with a lead service line can still be exposed. Test your own tap.
Who runs the water here
The Nines Subdivision serves about 220 people through 48 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Yellowstone County, Montana. EPA system ID: MT0004989; phone on file: 406-325-6227. 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 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for The Nines Subdivision is 40 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 2 ppb |
| 2024 | 2 ppb |
| 2023 | 5 ppb |
| 2023 | 1 ppb |
| 2022 | 40 ppb over 15 |
| 2022 | 2 ppb |
How The Nines Subdivision 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. The Nines Subdivision's 2 ppb sits at the 70th percentile in Montana and the 70th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Yellowstone County
45 other systems share Yellowstone County; 10 of them have a higher latest lead result than The Nines Subdivision. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Billings City Of | 114,000 | 3 ppb |
| Billings Heights Co Water Dist Of | 12,000 | 3 ppb |
| Laurel Municipal Water System | 6,339 | 2 ppb |
| Lockwood Water And Sewer District | 5,900 | 3 ppb |
| Pioneer Water Service | 900 | 0 (not detected) |
| Go 2 U Water Delivery | 875 | 0 (not detected) |
| Worden Ballantine Yellowstone | 800 | 3 ppb |
| Fisher Water Service | 750 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cherry Creek Estates Llc | 600 | 0 (not detected) |
| Windsor Estates | 530 | 1 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Billings, 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 The Nines Subdivision 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. Why an old exceedance still matters: over the limit before, under it now.