Community Water System · PWS MT0000391
Surprise Creek Colony
Operator location Stanford, Montana - smaller served population (≤ 999) at 80 people served; 154 SDWIS violations on record from groundwater sources.
- 80
- People served (this PWS) Smaller third of systems
- 154
- EPA violations (this PWS) Upper third of systems
- 5
- Health-based (this PWS) Middle third by health-based share
- Untested
- UCMR5 (this PWS) No UCMR5 result
Surprise Creek Colony standing, high SDWIS violation third
80 people served (SDWIS) - smaller served population (≤ 999). Corpus terciles use 29,740 systems serving 500+ (the sitemap cohort). Health-based share 3% is middle-third health share (≤ 23%).
The verdict
Surprise Creek Colony sits in the upper third of the sitemap cohort by violation count (154), so the tables below sample a dense compliance trail rather than a near-clean ledger. Population served is smaller (80; smaller served population (≤ 999)), so each violation row represents a compact service footprint. Health-based share is 3% (middle-third health share (≤ 23%)). No UCMR5 PFAS test appears for this system in this extract.
- 154
- Total EPA violations on record
- 3%
- Health-based (MCL / treatment failure)
- 80
- People served by this PWS (SDWIS)
- N/A
- PFAS compounds detected (UCMR5)
Population ordinals match the sitemap cohort (systems serving 500+, population_served DESC). See methodology · corpus placement.
Based on EPA SDWIS violation history and UCMR5 PFAS testing only, not water taste, odor, infrastructure age, or contaminants outside the federally tracked set.
System Details
- System Type
- Community
- Owner Type
- Private
- Connections
- 16
- County
- Judith Basin
- School/Daycare
- No
- MCL Violations
- 5
- Monitoring Violations
- 139
- Treatment Tech Violations
- 0
Violation History
Contaminant violations recorded by EPA.
| Contaminant | Category | Count | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chlorine | MR | 12 | 2009 |
| Lead and Copper Rule | MR | 10 | 2020 |
| Consumer Confidence Rule | Other | 7 | 2019 |
| Coliform (TCR) | MR | 6 | 2011 |
| Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | MR | 6 | 2019 |
| TTHM | MR | 6 | 2019 |
| Coliform (TCR) | MCL | 5 | 2000 |
| Endrin | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| BHC-GAMMA | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Methoxychlor | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Toxaphene | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Diquat | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Endothall | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Glyphosate | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| OXAMYL | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Picloram | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Dinoseb | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Hexachlorocyclopentadiene | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Aldicarb sulfoxide | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Aldicarb sulfone | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Carbofuran | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| LASSO | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| 2,3,7,8-TCDD | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| 2,4-D | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| 2,4,5-TP | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Benzo(a)pyrene | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Total Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| ETHYLENE DIBROMIDE | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Heptachlor epoxide | MR | 3 | 1999 |
| Simazine | MR | 3 | 1999 |
Violation Count vs. the National Corpus
Surprise Creek Colony has 154 recorded EPA violations, 81% of the 29,740 public water systems serving 500+ people nationwide carry fewer, and 18% carry more. 3% of this system's own violations are health-based (5 of 154), and it ranks unranked by population served among that same cohort.
EPA violations vs. the national water-system corpus
Public water systems serving 500+ people (EPA SDWIS)
154 Higher than most more violations than 81% of 29,740 water systems
the national water-system corpus, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more water systems. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source EPA SDWIS · 2026-05-15
How many violations vs. how serious, among peer systems
Surprise Creek Colony plotted against 29 peer public water systems (500+ people served), by total violation count (x) and the share of those violations that are health-based (y). The crosshair sits at this sample's own median on each axis. A high violation count does not automatically mean a serious record: most monitoring and reporting violations are minor, not health-based.
Violation volume vs. health-based share
Population served record for Surprise Creek Colony
EPA SDWIS lists 80 people served and 16 connections for this PWS, confirm the service-area footprint on the federal report before comparing to municipal census totals.
Sources: EPA SDWIS
Nationwide peers
154 violations · 80 served: nearest cross-state SDWIS matches.
Cross-state systems with comparable violation load
Nearest cross-state community systems (500+ served) by total SDWIS violations on record.
What to do with Surprise Creek Colony
Use this system's EPA-reported record as a starting filter, not a final verdict.
- See how every tracked system in Montana compares on the same EPA violation measures. Montana systems
- Check whether PFAS was detected at this system under UCMR5 testing. PFAS guide
- Find and compare another public water system by name or PWSID. Search systems
EPA SDWIS and UCMR5 figures are informational only, not a substitute for a certified lab test of your own tap water.
Every figure on PlainWater is rendered directly from EPA SDWIS drinking-water data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.