Pearl River Central W/A, MS
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.7 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2024). 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
Pearl River Central W/A serves about 11,830 people through 4,481 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is under mixed public and private ownership and draws groundwater, in Pearl River County, Mississippi. EPA system ID: MS0550005; phone on file: 601-798-3103. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2021 (0.5 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Pearl River Central W/A is 0.7 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 0.7 ppb |
| 2021 | 0.5 ppb |
| 2018 | 0.5 ppb |
| 2016 | 0.6 ppb |
Where this result ranks
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. Pearl River Central W/A's 0.7 ppb sits at the 36th percentile in Mississippi and the 47th nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
13 other systems share Pearl River County; 6 of them have a higher latest lead result than Pearl River Central W/A. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Picayune Utilities, City Of | 11,859 | 0.7 ppb |
| Center W/A-Caesar System | 6,455 | 0.6 ppb |
| Pearl River Central W/A-Henley Field | 4,438 | 1.6 ppb |
| Pearl River Central W/A-Bi Co | 4,406 | 16.6 ppb |
| City Of Poplarville | 3,334 | 1 ppb |
| Nicholson Water Association | 3,001 | 0.7 ppb |
| Hide-A-Way Lake Water System | 2,727 | 0 (not detected) |
| Pearl River Central W/A-North | 2,278 | 0 (not detected) |
| Spring Hill Water Assn. | 1,642 | 0.67 ppb |
| Prcua-Picayune Water System | 979 | 1 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Mcneill, 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 Pearl River Central W/A 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.