Pender County Utilities, NC
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (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. The latest 90th-percentile result was reported as 0 (not detected at the lab's limit). That says the sampled homes were low, not that your home has no lead service line. Check your utility's service line inventory for your address.
Who runs the water here
Pender County Utilities serves about 32,302 people through 12,921 service connections, which makes it a large system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Pender County, North Carolina. EPA system ID: NC7071011; phone on file: 910-259-1521. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Pender County Utilities's lead record
That is down 3.8 ppb from 3.8 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Pender County Utilities is 3.8 ppb across 7 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 3.8 ppb |
| 2025 | 3 ppb |
| 2024 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2020 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2019 | 0 (not detected) |
Against other North Carolina systems
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. Pender County Utilities's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 77th percentile in North Carolina and the 39th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Other water systems in Pender County
10 other systems share Pender County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than Pender County Utilities. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Surf City, Town Of | 9,730 | 0 (not detected) |
| Burgaw, Town Of | 4,250 | 0 (not detected) |
| Topsail Beach, Town Of | 3,495 | 0 (not detected) |
| Belvedere Plantation | 3,462 | 3 ppb |
| Maple Hill Water District | 968 | 0 (not detected) |
| Castle Bay S/D | 777 | 0 (not detected) |
| Olde Point S/D | 516 | 0 (not detected) |
| Town Of Atkinson | 301 | 5.5 ppb |
| Hampstead Pines | 178 | 0 (not detected) |
| Lea Acres Water Co Inc | 120 | 2 ppb |
Your move
Look up your address in Pender County Utilities's service line inventory. If it says lead, galvanized or unknown, test your tap. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Pender County Utilities 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. Small systems behave differently: why small systems go over more often.