Barnetts Bluff, GA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.7 ppb (monitoring period 2021-2023). 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
Barnetts Bluff serves about 149 people through 55 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Oconee County, Georgia. EPA system ID: GA2190053; phone on file: 706-769-2814. 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 2022 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Barnetts Bluff is 0.7 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 0.7 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
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. Barnetts Bluff's 0.7 ppb sits at the 51st percentile in Georgia and the 46th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Oconee County
26 other systems share Oconee County; 16 of them have a higher latest lead result than Barnetts Bluff. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Oconee County | 30,162 | 0 (not detected) |
| Port Bass I (Sc3750002) | 681 | 0 (not detected) |
| Brookwood Estates Subdivision | 602 | 0 (not detected) |
| Fieldstone/Canyon Creek Sd | 367 | 4.6 ppb |
| Timber Lake I (Sc3750006) | 283 | 0 (not detected) |
| Northwest Woods Subdivision | 238 | 2 ppb |
| Woodlands Subdivision/Oconee Village Apt | 234 | 2.4 ppb |
| Fernwood Subdivision | 218 | 1.2 ppb |
| Port Bass Ii (Sc3750012) | 165 | 0 (not detected) |
| Elder Heights Subdivision | 154 | 5.9 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Watkinsville, 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 Barnetts Bluff 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.