Virginia City Water Dept, MT
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (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. The latest 90th-percentile result was reported as 0 (not detected at the lab's limit). That says the sampled homes were low, not that your home has no lead service line. Check your utility's service line inventory for your address.
Who runs the water here
Virginia City Water Dept serves about 1,500 people through 248 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 Madison County, Montana. EPA system ID: MT0000353; phone on file: 406-843-5321. 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 2023 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Virginia City Water Dept is 2 ppb across 5 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 2 ppb |
Where this result ranks
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. Virginia City Water Dept's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 37th percentile in Montana and the 29th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Neighbouring systems
10 other systems share Madison County; 8 of them have a higher latest lead result than Virginia City Water Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Big Sky County Water And Sewer Dist 363 | 4,132 | 4.84 ppb |
| Ennis Town Of | 1,400 | 0 (not detected) |
| Sheridan Town Of | 632 | 2 ppb |
| Andesite Ridge Water System | 450 | 3 ppb |
| Twin Bridges Town Of | 424 | 2 ppb |
| Mt Moonlight Basin | 355 | 0.28 ppb |
| Lower Pioneer Mountain Water System | 350 | 1 ppb |
| Valley Garden Golf Village Hoa | 195 | 1 ppb |
| Encampment Trail | 100 | 0 (not detected) |
| Lone View Ridge Water System | 37 | 1 ppb |
Next steps for Virginia City, MT
Look up your address in Virginia City Water Dept's service line inventory. If it says lead, galvanized or unknown, test your tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Virginia City 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. A zero today does not rule out a jump later - the rules are tightening in 2027.