Carlton, GA
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2026). 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
Carlton serves about 419 people through 165 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 Madison County, Georgia. EPA system ID: GA1950000; phone on file: 706-797-3210. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
That is down 4.9 ppb from 7.9 ppb in the period ending 2023. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Carlton is 27.9 ppb across 7 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 3 ppb |
| 2023 | 7.9 ppb |
| 2022 | 4.1 ppb |
| 2021 | 3.8 ppb |
| 2020 | 4.9 ppb |
| 2019 | 8.7 ppb |
| 2017 | 27.9 ppb over 15 |
How Carlton 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. Carlton's 3 ppb sits at the 83rd percentile in Georgia and the 82nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
21 other systems share Madison County; 6 of them have a higher latest lead result than Carlton. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Madison County Water System | 4,663 | 3.5 ppb |
| Comer | 1,531 | 4.5 ppb |
| Colbert Water System | 1,374 | 13 ppb |
| Danielsville | 1,022 | 1.5 ppb |
| Brown Brothers Farm Subdivision | 656 | 3.8 ppb |
| Ila | 532 | 0 (not detected) |
| Westbrook / Norwood Village S/D | 416 | 6.2 ppb |
| Apple Acres-Kingston-Gatewood | 308 | 0 (not detected) |
| Double A Farm & Livestock Llc | 300 | - |
| Harrison Militia District | 283 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Carlton, GA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Carlton, 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 Carlton 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. More in what a past exceedance means today.