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Is Missoula, MT tap water safe?

15 utilities serve Missoula, 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

3 of the 15 utilities serving Missoula have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Montana’s records: Sunny Meadows Water and Sewer Dist, High Quality H2o and Spring Meadows County Water District.

Missoula Water, which serves the most people here, has 3 results above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 15 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

The water from Missoula Water is moderately hard to very hard depending on the source, 109 to 224 mg/L (6.4 to 13.1 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 Missoula’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

5 more utilities in Missoula

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

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in Missoula Water’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 Missoula

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 3 labs Montana certifies closest to Missoula, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • RD Water Lab, LLC

    Missoula, MT · under a mile

    Certified for bacteria

    (406) 721-8179

  • Water Technologies Laboratory

    Missoula, MT · about 2 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (406) 549-8868

  • Missoula CCHD Water Lab

    Missoula, MT · about 4 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

ZIP codes in Missoula

Which ZIP codes are in Missoula: 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 Missoula

Other towns in Missoula County with a page of their own.

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