Cumberland Plateau W.A.#3, TN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 6.26 ppb (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. 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 Cumberland Plateau W.A.#3
Cumberland Plateau W.A.#3 serves about 5,659 people through 2,515 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 surface water, in Cumberland County, Tennessee. EPA system ID: TN0000557; phone on file: 931-484-6987. 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 2024 (6.42 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Cumberland Plateau W.A.#3 is 6.67 ppb across 7 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 6.26 ppb |
| 2024 | 6.42 ppb |
| 2023 | 6.67 ppb |
| 2023 | 4.42 ppb |
| 2022 | 2.28 ppb |
| 2019 | 2.75 ppb |
| 2016 | 0.5 ppb |
Against other Tennessee systems
Of the 453 Tennessee systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 0 are over 15 ppb right now and 10 have gone over at some point. Cumberland Plateau W.A.#3's 6.26 ppb sits at the 98th percentile in Tennessee and the 94th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Cumberland County
3 other systems share Cumberland County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Cumberland Plateau W.A.#3. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Crossville Water Dept | 32,985 | 1 ppb |
| Cumberland Plateau Water Authority #1 | 23,252 | 1 ppb |
| Cumberland Plateau W.A. #2 | 12,850 | 1 ppb |
Next steps for Crossville, TN
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Crossville, TN 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 Cumberland Plateau W.A.#3 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.