Linville Ridge, NC
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2026-2028). 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 Linville Ridge
Linville Ridge serves about 710 people through 341 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Avery County, North Carolina. EPA system ID: NC0106117; phone on file: 800-525-7990. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Every lead result on file
That is down 3 ppb from 3 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Linville Ridge is 3 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2028 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 3 ppb |
Where this result ranks
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. Linville Ridge's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 55th percentile in North Carolina and the 24th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Neighbouring systems
17 other systems share Avery County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than Linville Ridge. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar Mountain Utility | 3,226 | 0 (not detected) |
| Linville Land Harbor | 2,280 | 4 ppb |
| Banner Elk, Town Of | 1,164 | 0 (not detected) |
| Newland, Town Of | 999 | 0 (not detected) |
| Elk River Club Development | 732 | 0 (not detected) |
| Linville Resorts Inc | 499 | 0 (not detected) |
| Elk Park, Town Of | 495 | 0 (not detected) |
| Blue Ridge Village | 343 | 0 (not detected) |
| Charles A Cannon Memorial Hospital | 320 | 0 (not detected) |
| Grandfather Golf & Country Clu | 250 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Look up your address in Linville Ridge'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 Linville Ridge 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. A zero today does not rule out a jump later - the rules are tightening in 2027.