Lake Waccamaw, Town Of, NC
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 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. 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.
Who runs the water here
Lake Waccamaw, Town Of serves about 2,572 people through 972 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 Columbus County, North Carolina. EPA system ID: NC0424045; phone on file: 910-646-3700. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2025 (5 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Lake Waccamaw, Town Of is 9 ppb across 7 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 5 ppb |
| 2025 | 5 ppb |
| 2025 | 4 ppb |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 5 ppb |
| 2022 | 9 ppb |
| 2016 | 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. Lake Waccamaw, Town Of's 5 ppb sits at the 93rd percentile in North Carolina and the 91st nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Columbus County
14 other systems share Columbus County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Lake Waccamaw, Town Of. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Columbus Co Water Districts Ii, Iii, V | 10,442 | 0 (not detected) |
| Whiteville, City Of | 5,426 | 4 ppb |
| Tabor City, Town Of | 3,277 | 0 (not detected) |
| Columbus County Water Dist Iv | 2,598 | 0 (not detected) |
| Chadbourn, Town Of | 2,370 | 5 ppb |
| Columbus Co Water District I | 1,700 | 0 (not detected) |
| Fair Bluff, Town Of | 800 | 3.15 ppb |
| Bolton, Town Of | 668 | 0 (not detected) |
| Brunswick, Town Of | 495 | 3 ppb |
| Town Of Sandyfield | 439 | 0 (not detected) |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Lake Waccamaw, 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 Lake Waccamaw, 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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.