Skip to content
TapBuff

Ponderilla Hills Lake County Water Sewer

What EPA’s and Montana’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
35 people
Connections
17
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Polson, MT
County
Lake
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

59860

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Uranium, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Uranium, fluoride, nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM): Montana’s own results, samples taken from Sept. 25, 2020 to April 1, 2024, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

2.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.5 ppb, in 2022: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 3.0 ppb, in 2013.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits2

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.93ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.93 ppm, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.87 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.4ppm

One sample

2020, one sample: 0.4 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 0.4 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That is the only year on file, and its one sample was 0.4 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.4 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”
4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Lead
  • Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

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?

These come with the water itself, so a whole-house system certified for the same claims treats every tap and shower. A filter at the tap treats drinking water for much less. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

None of the filters TapBuff has checked so far carry these claims. Search the certifier listings for the claim above.

Compare five-year costs

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 2 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Uranium, fluoride, nitrate, arsenic, chromium (total) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) results here are Montana’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Ponderilla Hills Lake County Water Sewer’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has 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; Montana’s results run from Sept. 25, 2020 to April 1, 2024.

Testing your own tap

Ponderilla Hills Lake County Water Sewer’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 Montana certifies.

The 3 labs Montana certifies closest to the area Ponderilla Hills Lake County Water Sewer serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Mission Mountain Laboratories

    Ravalli, MT · about 28 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (406) 370-1089

  • Montana Environmental Laboratory

    Kalispell, MT · about 38 miles

    Certified for bacteria, minerals and other inorganics

    (406) 755-2131

  • Missoula CCHD Water Lab

    Missoula, MT · about 56 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (406) 523-4755

Montana State Environmental Laboratory: Private well testing packages for bacteria, metals, nutrients, anions, organic chemicals and more, open to the public. Samples can be mailed, sent by the lab's free courier, or dropped off at the lab. Environmental Laboratory, Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

All 36 certified labs for Montana

Sources

PWSID MT0003103. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.