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Great Salt Bay Sanitary District

What EPA’s and CDC’s records show in this utility’s water: nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
2,143 people
Connections
857
Water source
Surface water
Based in
Damariscotta, ME
County
Lincoln
Owner
Local government
The 2 ZIP codes it serves

04543, 04553

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2020 to 2025.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic and nitrate: Maine’s yearly averages per water system, as CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network publishes them, 2020 to 2023, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Fluoride, chromium (total) and uranium: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Jan. 9, 2012 to Dec. 2, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

1.2ppb

90th percentile, 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 1.2 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits3

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

65.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 52.6 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 65.3 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 52.6 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 44.3 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

37.7ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 35.8 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 37.7 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 35.8 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 37.8 ppb, in 2015.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.83ppm

Highest yearly average, 2012 to 2019

2019 average: 0.76 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.83 ppm, in 2013, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 1.1 ppm. In 2019, the latest year on file, its 13 samples averaged 0.76 ppm.

What handles it

4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Nitrate
  • Uranium

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Lead and Copper RuleA required study or plan for corrosion control was not done on time.EPA: OCCT/SOWT Study/RecommendationApril 21, 2021—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 4 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic and nitrate results here are Maine’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Fluoride, chromium (total) and uranium come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Great Salt Bay Sanitary District’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has newer results for those and the contaminants this page does not show.

  • Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.

  • What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.

  • Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 didn’t sample this utility; CDC’s yearly averages for Maine cover 2020 to 2023; EPA’s compliance samples are from Jan. 9, 2012 to Dec. 2, 2019.

Testing your own tap

Great Salt Bay Sanitary District’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab Maine certifies.

The 3 labs Maine certifies closest to the area Great Salt Bay Sanitary District serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

Maine Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory: Well water test kits ordered online, from a bacteria-only test to full panels for new wells and home sales. The lab must receive the sample within 30 hours of collection. The basic safety test is $42, bacteria alone $27, first-draw lead $32, and the fuller well tests $127 to $147. Maine Private Well and Radiological Water and Air Test.

All 53 certified labs for Maine

Sources

PWSID ME0090410. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Lincoln County

All Maine utilities

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