Cottage Edge, VA
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.
Who runs the water here
Cottage Edge serves about 80 people through 41 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Franklin County, Virginia. EPA system ID: VA5067077. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2022 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Cottage Edge is 24.3 ppb across 8 monitoring periods, 4 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 0.75 ppb |
| 2020 | 0.8 ppb |
| 2020 | 16.7 ppb over 15 |
| 2019 | 19.7 ppb over 15 |
| 2019 | 18.4 ppb over 15 |
| 2018 | 24.3 ppb over 15 |
Against other Virginia systems
Of the 996 Virginia systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 3 are over 15 ppb right now and 59 have gone over at some point. Cottage Edge's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 10th percentile in Virginia and the 7th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Nearby utilities
26 other systems share Franklin County; 15 of them have a higher latest lead result than Cottage Edge. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Rocky Mount, Town Of | 6,000 | 0.51 ppb |
| Westlake Area Public Water System | 3,525 | 0 (not detected) |
| Wvwa Ferrum Water System | 1,996 | 0 (not detected) |
| The Waters Edge | 949 | 0 (not detected) |
| Dillards Hill | 755 | 0 (not detected) |
| Park Place | 501 | 3.5 ppb |
| Boones Mill Town Of | 350 | 0 (not detected) |
| Burnt Chimney Water System | 300 | 0 (not detected) |
| Franklin Acres | 200 | 2.93 ppb |
| Walnut Run | 196 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Penhook, VA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Penhook, VA 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 Cottage Edge 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. Why an old exceedance still matters: over the limit before, under it now.