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Ptarmigan Village Inc

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
600 people
Connections
62
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Whitefish, MT
County
Flathead
Owner
Private
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

59937

The short answer

3 results are above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 1998 to 2026.

Arsenic, uranium, nitrate, fluoride, chromium (total) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM): Montana’s own results, samples taken from April 26, 2020 to June 26, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Haloacetic acids (HAA5): EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from Aug. 26, 2014 to Aug. 26, 2014. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal3

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

10ppb

90th percentile, 2024 to 2026

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

What handles it

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021 to 2023

2023 average: 1.0 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.0 ppb, in 2021: below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 2.0 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 1.0 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.0 ppb, in 2018.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

1.9ppb

Highest yearly average, 2021

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.9 ppb, in 2021: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 3.0 ppb. That is the only year on file.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits2

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.33ppm

Highest sample; found in 10 of 10

2024 average: 0.19 ppm

The highest sample, in 2021, was 0.33 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2024, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.19 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 0.12 ppm, in 2013.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.035ppm

Highest yearly average, 2022 to 2025

2025 average: 0.02 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.035 ppm, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.04 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.02 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.05 ppm, in 2013.

What handles it

3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Chromium (total)
  • Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
  • 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.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claims: Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Lead, Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Lead Reduction, Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction, Uranium

    For: Lead, Arsenic, Uranium

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

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

The best reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Hardness

Very hard, typically 262 mg/L (15.3 grains per gallon), across 2 sampling points, in 2021.

Hardness is calcium and magnesium. EPA sets no limit for it: it shows up as scale on fixtures and in water heaters, and as soap that won’t lather. USGS calls water above 60 mg/L moderately hard, above 120 hard and above 180 very hard.

Softeners compared at 15.3 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?Montana water hardness, utility by utility

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. Arsenic, uranium, nitrate, fluoride, chromium (total) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) results here are Montana’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Haloacetic acids (HAA5) comes from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Ptarmigan Village Inc’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; Montana’s results run from April 26, 2020 to June 26, 2026; EPA’s compliance samples are from Aug. 26, 2014 to Aug. 26, 2014.

Testing your own tap

Ptarmigan Village Inc’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 lab Montana certifies closest to the area Ptarmigan Village Inc serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Montana Environmental Laboratory

    Kalispell, MT · about 14 miles

    Certified for bacteria, minerals and other inorganics

    (406) 755-2131

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 MT0000133. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Flathead County

All Montana utilities

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