Nicholson Water Authority, GA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3 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.
Nicholson Water Authority at a glance
Nicholson Water Authority serves about 3,218 people through 1,217 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 Jackson County, Georgia. EPA system ID: GA1570004; phone on file: 706-757-2230. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Nicholson Water Authority's lead record
Against the period ending 2024 (3 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Nicholson Water Authority is 3 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 ppb |
| 2024 | 3 ppb |
| 2019 | 1.8 ppb |
Against other Georgia systems
Of the 1,681 Georgia systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0.68 ppb; 15 are over 15 ppb right now and 131 have gone over at some point. Nicholson Water Authority's 3 ppb sits at the 83rd percentile in Georgia and the 82nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Jackson County
10 other systems share Jackson County; 1 of them has a higher latest lead result than Nicholson Water Authority. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Jackson County Water & Sewer Authority | 33,601 | 0 (not detected) |
| Braselton | 20,469 | 0 (not detected) |
| Jefferson | 12,690 | 0 (not detected) |
| Commerce | 11,340 | 1.2 ppb |
| Hoschton Water System | 6,620 | 1.8 ppb |
| Trotter`S Ridge Subdivision | 195 | 1.1 ppb |
| Crooked Creek S/D | 62 | 1.4 ppb |
| Arcade Mobile Home Park | 54 | 7.1 ppb |
| Charclar Subdivision | 49 | 0 (not detected) |
| Upper Oconee Basin Water Auth. | - | - |
Next steps for Nicholson, GA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Nicholson, GA 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 Nicholson Water Authority 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.