Van Buren Water District, ME
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2.7 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.
Who runs the water here
Van Buren Water District serves about 2,190 people through 876 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 Aroostook County, Maine. EPA system ID: ME0091540; phone on file: 207-868-2285. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Van Buren Water District's lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (3.7 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Van Buren Water District is 3.7 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 2.7 ppb |
| 2021 | 3.7 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.1 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.1 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.1 ppb |
| 2016 | 1.8 ppb |
Where this result ranks
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. Van Buren Water District's 2.7 ppb sits at the 71st percentile in Maine and the 79th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Aroostook County
37 other systems share Aroostook County; 11 of them have a higher latest lead result than Van Buren Water District. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Presque Isle Utilities District | 6,128 | 1.5 ppb |
| Houlton Water Company | 4,735 | 3.4 ppb |
| Caribou Utilities District | 3,943 | 0 (not detected) |
| Madawaska Water District | 2,738 | 0 (not detected) |
| Fort Fairfield Utilities District | 2,025 | 1.8 ppb |
| Fort Kent W & W Department | 1,578 | 1.9 ppb |
| Mars Hill And Blaine Water Company | 1,500 | 3.4 ppb |
| Limestone Water & Sewer District | 875 | 2.6 ppb |
| Ashland Water & Sewer District | 713 | 2.3 ppb |
| Washburn Water & Sewer District | 688 | 2 ppb |
Next steps for Van Buren, ME
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Van Buren, 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 Van Buren 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.