Columbus Town Of, NC
Lead reported as not detected
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 90th-percentile result was reported as 0 (not detected at the lab's limit). That says the sampled homes were low, not that your home has no lead service line. Check your utility's service line inventory for your address.
About Columbus Town Of
Columbus Town Of serves about 2,489 people through 980 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Polk County, North Carolina. EPA system ID: NC0175015; phone on file: 828-284-9374. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Columbus Town Of is 0 ppb across 1 monitoring period, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 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. Columbus Town Of's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 64th percentile in North Carolina and the 32nd nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Neighbouring systems
5 other systems share Polk County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Columbus Town Of. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Tryon, Town Of | 5,494 | 0 (not detected) |
| Saluda City Of | 1,814 | 11 ppb |
| Melmont Water System | 127 | 0 (not detected) |
| Brights Creek Water System | 99 | 9 ppb |
| The Brow Condominiums | 96 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Look up your address in Columbus Town Of's service line inventory. If it says lead, galvanized or unknown, test your tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Columbus Town Of 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. A zero today does not rule out a jump later - the rules are tightening in 2027.