Palmetto Bluff, GA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1.4 ppb (monitoring period 2024-2026). 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
Palmetto Bluff serves about 29 people through 11 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Glynn County, Georgia. EPA system ID: GA1270191; phone on file: 912-352-9339. Ask them for your address in their service line inventory - every system had to publish one by Oct 2024.
Palmetto Bluff's lead record
That is up 1.4 ppb from 0 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Palmetto Bluff is 5.9 ppb across 8 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.4 ppb |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2023 | 1.9 ppb |
| 2022 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 5.9 ppb |
| 2017 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2016 | 2.5 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. Palmetto Bluff's 1.4 ppb sits at the 63rd percentile in Georgia and the 61st nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
45 other systems share Glynn County; 9 of them have a higher latest lead result than Palmetto Bluff. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Brunswick | 44,739 | 0 (not detected) |
| St. Simons Island | 29,249 | 2.3 ppb |
| Glynn Co.-South Main Land | 2,554 | 1.2 ppb |
| Jekyll Island Authority | 2,541 | 7.8 ppb |
| Sea Island Company | 2,000 | 1.8 ppb |
| Oak Grove Island Plantation | 775 | 2.9 ppb |
| Deerfield Park | 538 | 0 (not detected) |
| Emanuel Church/Silver Bluff/Avondale | 497 | 0 (not detected) |
| Valerie Subdivision | 376 | 0 (not detected) |
| Epworth Acres Water System | 328 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Savannah, 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 Palmetto Bluff 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.