Big Ridge S/D, NC
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2023-2025). 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.
About Big Ridge S/D
Big Ridge S/D serves about 76 people through 30 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Jackson County, North Carolina. EPA system ID: NC0150170; phone on file: 828-586-5588. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Big Ridge S/D's lead record
Against the period ending 2021 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Big Ridge S/D is 20 ppb across 9 monitoring periods, 2 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 3 ppb |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 20 ppb over 15 |
| 2018 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 18 ppb over 15 |
How Big Ridge S/D compares
Of the 1,925 North Carolina systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 5 are over 15 ppb right now and 75 have gone over at some point. Big Ridge S/D's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 14th percentile in North Carolina and the 7th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Neighbouring systems
35 other systems share Jackson County; 10 of them have a higher latest lead result than Big Ridge S/D. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Western Carolina Univ Wtp | 7,800 | 0 (not detected) |
| Tuckaseigee Water & Sewer Auth | 7,528 | 0 (not detected) |
| Fairfield Sapphire | 3,873 | 0 (not detected) |
| Hh Water, Llc | 770 | 0 (not detected) |
| Trillium Links & Village | 610 | 0 (not detected) |
| Highlands Cove S/D | 604 | 0 (not detected) |
| Mountain Top Golf & Lake Club | 467 | 0 (not detected) |
| Wade Hampton Club | 429 | 0 (not detected) |
| Trillium Links West | 424 | 2.5 ppb |
| Bear Lake Reserve 1b | 396 | 4.9 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Cullowhee, NC 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 Big Ridge S/D whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1460 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. Why an old exceedance still matters: over the limit before, under it now.