North Covington W/A-South, MS
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2.1 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.
North Covington W/A-South at a glance
North Covington W/A-South serves about 2,326 people through 881 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is under mixed public and private ownership and draws groundwater, in Covington County, Mississippi. EPA system ID: MS0160011; phone on file: 601-797-4347. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
North Covington W/A-South's lead record
Against the period ending 2022 (1.7 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for North Covington W/A-South is 3.4 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.1 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.7 ppb |
| 2017 | 3.4 ppb |
Against other Mississippi systems
Of the 973 Mississippi systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 9 are over 15 ppb right now and 44 have gone over at some point. North Covington W/A-South's 2.1 ppb sits at the 80th percentile in Mississippi and the 74th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Covington County
7 other systems share Covington County; 2 of them have a higher latest lead result than North Covington W/A-South. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Southwest Covington W/A | 3,601 | 2.5 ppb |
| City Of Collins | 2,921 | 0 (not detected) |
| Willow Grove Water Assn | 2,284 | 2.8 ppb |
| North Covington W/A-North | 1,259 | 1 ppb |
| Town Of Mount Olive | 1,032 | 2 ppb |
| Cold Springs Water Association | 589 | 1.4 ppb |
| Town Of Seminary | 317 | 1 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Mount Olive, MS 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 North Covington W/A-South 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. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.