Avera, GA
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 4.1 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2026). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. The latest result is under the action level, but this system has gone over 15 ppb before. Lead comes from pipes, not the source water, so a home with a lead service line can still be exposed. Test your own tap.
Who runs the water here
Avera serves about 448 people through 166 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Jefferson County, Georgia. EPA system ID: GA1630000; phone on file: 706-547-6272. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2025 (3.1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Avera is 16 ppb across 9 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 4.1 ppb |
| 2025 | 3.1 ppb |
| 2025 | 16 ppb over 15 |
| 2024 | 1.5 ppb |
| 2023 | 2.9 ppb |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 8.5 ppb |
| 2019 | 8.3 ppb |
| 2016 | 2.4 ppb |
How Avera compares
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. Avera's 4.1 ppb sits at the 89th percentile in Georgia and the 88th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Jefferson County
6 other systems share Jefferson County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than Avera. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Louisville | 5,242 | 5 ppb |
| Wrens | 2,730 | 2.1 ppb |
| Wadley | 2,527 | 10 ppb |
| Stapleton | 433 | 19 ppb |
| Bartow | 419 | 0 (not detected) |
| Brown Terrace Subdivision | 96 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Avera, 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 Avera whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1555 ppb (copper action level 1,300 ppb).
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. More in what a past exceedance means today.