Carolina Beach Water System, NC
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 5.8 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2028). 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.
Carolina Beach Water System at a glance
Carolina Beach Water System serves about 6,864 people through 5,460 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in New Hanover County, North Carolina. EPA system ID: NC0465015; phone on file: 910-458-8291. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2023 (5.7 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Carolina Beach Water System is 5.8 ppb across 11 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2028 | 5.8 ppb |
| 2023 | 5.7 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 3.6 ppb |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2018 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
Against other North Carolina systems
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. Carolina Beach Water System's 5.8 ppb sits at the 94th percentile in North Carolina and the 93rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
14 other systems share New Hanover County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than Carolina Beach Water System. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Cfpua-Wilmington | 212,227 | 0 (not detected) |
| The Cape Master System | 11,587 | 3 ppb |
| Kure Beach Water System | 5,484 | 5 ppb |
| Cfpua - Wrightsville Beach | 5,300 | 0 (not detected) |
| Figure 8 Island | 999 | 0 (not detected) |
| Treasure Cove S/D | 760 | 0 (not detected) |
| Glynnwood Mhp | 208 | 2 ppb |
| Northside Mhp | 180 | 0 (not detected) |
| South Ridge Mhp | 115 | 6 ppb |
| Oyster Point S/D | 99 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Carolina Beach, 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 Carolina Beach 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.