Cedar Valley, NC
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.7 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.
About Cedar Valley
Cedar Valley serves about 66 people through 26 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Gaston County, North Carolina. EPA system ID: NC0136250; phone on file: 919-653-6999. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2025 (2 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Cedar Valley is 2 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2028 | 1.7 ppb |
| 2025 | 2 ppb |
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. Cedar Valley's 1.7 ppb sits at the 82nd percentile in North Carolina and the 66th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
134 other systems share Gaston County; 25 of them have a higher latest lead result than Cedar Valley. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Two Rivers Utilities | 96,714 | 0 (not detected) |
| Mount Holly, City Of | 19,200 | 2.05 ppb |
| Belmont, City Of | 17,477 | 0 (not detected) |
| Dallas, Town Of | 8,212 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cherryville, City Of | 6,353 | 0 (not detected) |
| Stanley, Town Of | 5,750 | 2 ppb |
| Bessemer City, City Of | 5,730 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ranlo, Town Of | 4,511 | 0 (not detected) |
| Lowell, City Of | 3,837 | 0 (not detected) |
| Belmont Abbey College | 1,325 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Cary, 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 Cedar Valley 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.