Community Water System · PWSID ME0020883

York County Shelters

Serves 70 peopleGroundwaterOwner: PrivateAlfred, Maine

Nothing open that measures the water, but 2 open testing or paperwork violations.

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 2007: 11 violations. 5 missed or late tests · 6 notices or reports. Most recent began 2024-07-01.

None of them is a measurement of contaminated water.

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

0Over the limit

0Treatment lapse

5Missed or late test

6Notice or report2 open

More violations on record than 72% 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

One square = one violation, by the year it began. Empty columns are years with nothing on EPA's record.

45% missed or late test · 555% notice or report · 6

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

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

2 ppb

0 ppb

Open now (2)

2023-07-01Consumer Confidence RuleCCR Complete Failure to ReportOpen
2022-07-01Consumer Confidence RuleCCR Complete Failure to ReportOpen

Every violation on record

2024-07-01Consumer Confidence RuleCCR Complete Failure to ReportBack in compliance
2024-07-01Revised Total Coliform RuleMONBack in compliance
2024-04-01Revised Total Coliform RuleMONBack in compliance
2024-02-17Public NoticePN Violation for NPDWR ViolationBack in compliance
2023-07-01Consumer Confidence RuleCCR Complete Failure to ReportOpen
2023-04-12Public NoticePN Violation for NPDWR ViolationBack in compliance
2022-10-01Revised Total Coliform RuleMONBack in compliance
2022-07-01Consumer Confidence RuleCCR Complete Failure to ReportOpen
2020-12-30Lead and Copper RuleLead Consumer NoticeBack in compliance
2008-07-01Consumer Confidence RuleCCR Complete Failure to ReportBack in compliance
2007-07-01Lead and Copper RuleFollow-up Or Routine LCR Tap M/RBack in compliance

System details

Population served	70
Service connections	1
Water source	Groundwater
System type	Community Water System
Owner	Private
Status	Active
City	Alfred
EPA ZIP on file	04002

Areas served

Alfred, York County

Reading this record

York County Shelters is a community water system that draws from groundwater and serves about 70 people in Alfred, 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.