Community Water System · PWSID ME0091550

Vinalhaven Water District

Serves 1,053 peopleSurface WaterOwner: Local GovernmentPoland, Maine
Nothing open that measures the water, but 1 open testing or paperwork violation.

A missed test is not evidence of bad water. It also is not evidence of good water: for that period nobody checked.

On record since 2003: 13 violations. 7 over the limit · 2 treatment lapses · 3 missed or late tests · 1 notice or report. Most recent began 2025-09-01.

For this year's test results, ask the utility for its annual Consumer Confidence Report. Every community system must publish one.

7Over the limit
2Treatment lapse
3Missed or late test
1Notice or report1 open

More violations on record than 76% of active water systems in Maine. Small systems with no staff chemist often rack up missed-test violations; big utilities rarely do.

The record, year by year

2003 · Notice or report: 120052007 · Treatment lapse: 22007 · Treatment lapse: 22010201520202022 · Missed or late test: 22022 · Missed or late test: 22023 · Over the limit: 12024 · Over the limit: 42024 · Over the limit: 42024 · Over the limit: 42024 · Over the limit: 42025 · Over the limit: 22025 · Over the limit: 22025 · Missed or late test: 12025
One square = one violation, by the year it began. Empty columns are years with nothing on EPA's record.
54% over the limit · 715% treatment lapse · 223% missed or late test · 38% notice or report · 1

Across Maine, 59% of violations are missed or late tests and 3% are water over a limit.

How far over the limit

at the limit2×5×10×100×+Trihalomethanes (TTHM)2025-04-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.0810 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.0×)2025-01-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.0860 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.1×)2024-10-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.0860 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.1×)2024-07-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.0930 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.2×)2024-04-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.0870 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.1×)2024-01-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.0820 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.0×)2023-10-01 · Trihalomethanes (TTHM): measured 0.0870 MG/L vs limit 0.0800 MG/L (1.1×)
Each dot is one over-the-limit violation: the measured value divided by the limit it broke, on a log scale. Most legal limits for chemicals are running averages set for a lifetime of drinking, so “just over” and “ten times over” are very different news. Hover a dot for the numbers.

Lead & copper at the tap

Utilities sample taps in homes most likely to have lead pipes, and report the 90th-percentile result: 9 in 10 homes sampled came in at or below this number. Above the red line (the action level) the utility must act. The action level is not a safe level; EPA's health goal for lead is zero. EPA's file does not date these results, so they are shown highest first.

Lead, 90th percentile 5 results on file · action level 15 ppb

6.8 ppb
3.3 ppb
2.1 ppb
2.1 ppb
1.5 ppb

Open now (1)

  1. 2003-10-11Public NoticePN Violation for NPDWR ViolationOpen

Every violation on record

  1. 2025-09-01Surface water treatment (SWTR)Monitoring of Treatment (SWTR-Filter)Period ended · no return to compliance on file
  2. 2025-04-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0810 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LPeriod ended · no return to compliance on file
  3. 2025-01-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0860 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LPeriod ended · no return to compliance on file
  4. 2024-10-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0860 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LPeriod ended · no return to compliance on file
  5. 2024-07-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0930 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LPeriod ended · no return to compliance on file
  6. 2024-04-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0870 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LPeriod ended · no return to compliance on file
  7. 2024-01-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0820 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LPeriod ended · no return to compliance on file
  8. 2023-10-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)MCL, Averagemeasured 0.0870 MG/L · limit 0.0800 MG/LPeriod ended · no return to compliance on file
  9. 2022-01-01Trihalomethanes (TTHM)Monitoring and Reporting (DBP)Back in compliance
  10. 2022-01-01Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)Monitoring and Reporting (DBP)Back in compliance
  11. 2007-09-01Surface water treatment (SWTR)Failure to Filter (SWTR)Back in compliance
  12. 2007-01-01Lead and Copper RuleOCCT/SOWT Study/RecommendationBack in compliance
  13. 2003-10-11Public NoticePN Violation for NPDWR ViolationOpen

System details

Population served1,053
Service connections421
Water sourceSurface Water
System typeCommunity Water System
OwnerLocal Government
StatusActive
CityPoland
EPA ZIP on file04274

Areas served

  • Vinalhaven, Knox County

Reading this record

Vinalhaven Water District is a community water system that draws from surface water and serves about 1,053 people in Poland, Maine. Everything above comes from the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), where states report every violation by every public water system.

Four kinds of violation. Only one is a measurement of the water: over the limit means a test came back above a legal maximum (an MCL). A treatment lapse means a required protective step was not done, such as disinfection, filtration, fixing a defect an inspector found, or filing a lead-pipe inventory. A missed or late test means a required test was skipped or never reported. That is the most common kind, and the most misread: it does not mean the water was bad, and it does not mean the water was fine. Notices and reports covers public notices and the annual Consumer Confidence Report.

Status. “Back in compliance” means the state recorded a return to compliance. “Period ended” means the violation's compliance period is over but no return to compliance was ever filed, which is common in older records. EPA's federal copy lags state records by months, so call the utility for anything current.