Firefly Cove, NC
Above the federal action level
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 15.5 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2026). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. In the most recent monitoring period, more than 10% of the sampled homes measured above 15 ppb. Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead for drinking and cooking now, and test your own tap.
Who runs the water here
Firefly Cove serves about 99 people through 39 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Rutherford County, North Carolina. EPA system ID: NC1081024; phone on file: 828-772-6134. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Firefly Cove's lead record
That is up 4.5 ppb from 11 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Firefly Cove is 15.5 ppb across 19 monitoring periods, 1 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 15.5 ppb over 15 |
| 2025 | 11 ppb over 10 |
| 2025 | 12.5 ppb over 10 |
| 2024 | 5.5 ppb |
| 2024 | 5.5 ppb |
| 2023 | 3.5 ppb |
| 2023 | 3.5 ppb |
| 2022 | 3.5 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 1.5 ppb |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 2 ppb |
| 2019 | 15 ppb over 10 |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2017 | 6 ppb |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
How Firefly Cove compares
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. Firefly Cove's 15.5 ppb sits at the 100th percentile in North Carolina and the 99th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
13 other systems share Rutherford County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Firefly Cove. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Forest City, Town Of | 21,521 | 0 (not detected) |
| Broad River Water Authority | 19,136 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ellenboro Town Of | 2,322 | 0 (not detected) |
| Concord Comm Water System | 1,867 | 0 (not detected) |
| Fairfield Mountains No 1 | 1,798 | 3.9 ppb |
| Lake Lure, Town Of | 1,176 | 15 ppb |
| Bostic, Town Of | 953 | 0 (not detected) |
| Fairfield Mtns-Apple Valley | 950 | 0 (not detected) |
| Lake Lure Village Resort | 226 | 0 (not detected) |
| Bridges S/D | 200 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead on the tap you drink and cook from, now, before you test. Then test your own tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Firefly Cove 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.