Athens-Clarke Co Water System, GA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3.5 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2024). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Lead was measured in sampled homes but the 90th percentile is under both action levels. EPA's health goal for lead is zero, so test your own tap if your home was built before 1986 or anyone in it is pregnant or a young child.
Who runs the water here
Athens-Clarke Co Water System serves about 125,000 people through 40,300 service connections, which makes it a very large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Clarke County, Georgia. EPA system ID: GA0590000; phone on file: 706-613-3289. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Athens-Clarke Co Water System's lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (3 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Athens-Clarke Co Water System is 3.5 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 3.5 ppb |
| 2021 | 3 ppb |
| 2018 | 1.7 ppb |
Where this result ranks
Of the 1,681 Georgia systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0.68 ppb; 15 are over 15 ppb right now and 131 have gone over at some point. Athens-Clarke Co Water System's 3.5 ppb sits at the 86th percentile in Georgia and the 85th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
10 other systems share Clarke County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than Athens-Clarke Co Water System. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Hallmark Manufactured Housing Community | 753 | 3.4 ppb |
| Pinewood Estates North | 581 | 8.9 ppb |
| Country Corners Mobile Home Community | 390 | 0 (not detected) |
| Crestmont Farms Subdivision | 170 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ramble Hills Subdivision | 157 | 0 (not detected) |
| Fowler`S Mill Subdivision | 127 | 1.5 ppb |
| Beaver Dam Estates M. H. P. | 105 | 6 ppb |
| Cherokee Mobile Home Park | 100 | - |
| Sandy Springs Subdivision | 42 | 28 ppb |
| Mineral Springs Subdivision | 35 | 2.1 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Athens, GA may offer free or low-cost kits through the utility. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Athens-Clarke Co Water System whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do.
These figures describe homes the utility sampled, not your tap. Only your service line record or a test of your own water answers the question for your house. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.