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Is Columbia Falls, MT tap water safe?

14 utilities serve Columbia Falls, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and Montana’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

None of the 14 utilities serving Columbia Falls has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Montana’s records.

City of Columbia Falls, which serves the most people here, has 2 results above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 4.0 ppb, above the health goal. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

The water from City of Columbia Falls is very hard, typically 252 mg/L (14.7 grains per gallon). How Montana’s water compares.

A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Columbia Falls’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

4 more utilities in Columbia Falls

By EPA’s estimate, each serves fewer people in Columbia Falls than those above.

  • Kokanee Bend HOAserves 230 people · lists Columbia Falls among the places it serves · no health-based violations since 2016
  • Country Estates Mble Home Parkserves 125 people · lists Columbia Falls among the places it serves · no health-based violations since 2016
  • Big Sky Mobile Manorserves 35 people · lists Columbia Falls among the places it serves · no health-based violations since 2016
  • Timber Ridge HOAserves 30 people · lists Columbia Falls among the places it serves · no health-based violations since 2016

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in City of Columbia Falls’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

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Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Columbia Falls

A utility tests the water it sends out. A test of your own tap shows what your pipes add, and on a private well it is the only test there is. It takes a lab Montana certifies.

The lab Montana certifies closest to Columbia Falls, 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 16 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

ZIP codes in Columbia Falls

Which ZIP codes are in Columbia Falls: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Water Laboratory Certification Program, certified laboratories; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Columbia Falls

Towns nearby with a page of their own.

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