Montreat Water System, NC
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 4 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.
Montreat Water System at a glance
Montreat Water System serves about 798 people through 676 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 Buncombe County, North Carolina. EPA system ID: NC0111484; phone on file: 828-669-8002. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
That is up 4 ppb from 0 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Montreat Water System is 4 ppb across 9 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 4 ppb |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 4 ppb |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 3 ppb |
| 2023 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 4 ppb |
| 2016 | 0 (not detected) |
How Montreat Water System 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. Montreat Water System's 4 ppb sits at the 91st percentile in North Carolina and the 88th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
28 other systems share Buncombe County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than Montreat Water System. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Asheville City Of | 157,431 | 0 (not detected) |
| Black Mountain, Town Of | 11,976 | 0 (not detected) |
| Woodfin Sanitary Water And Sewer | 10,122 | 0 (not detected) |
| Weaverville, Town Of | 8,359 | 0 (not detected) |
| Biltmore Forest, Town Of | 1,356 | 0 (not detected) |
| Royal Gorge Water Utility | 950 | 0 (not detected) |
| Bent Creek Water System | 800 | 0 (not detected) |
| Christmount Christian Assembly | 250 | 0 (not detected) |
| Mount Pisgah Academy | 210 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ymca-Blue Ridge Assembly | 200 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Montreat, 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 Montreat Water System 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. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.