Prices Fork/Merrimac, VA
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.51 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.
Prices Fork/Merrimac at a glance
Prices Fork/Merrimac serves about 4,541 people through 1,050 service connections, which makes it a medium-sized system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Montgomery County, Virginia. EPA system ID: VA1121580. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2024 (0.51 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Prices Fork/Merrimac is 1.2 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 0.51 ppb |
| 2024 | 0.51 ppb |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2021 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2018 | 1.2 ppb |
| 2018 | 1.2 ppb |
How Prices Fork/Merrimac compares
Of the 996 Virginia systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 0 ppb; 3 are over 15 ppb right now and 59 have gone over at some point. Prices Fork/Merrimac's 0.51 ppb sits at the 52nd percentile in Virginia and the 43rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
14 other systems share Montgomery County; 5 of them have a higher latest lead result than Prices Fork/Merrimac. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Blacksburg, Town Of | 34,578 | 0 (not detected) |
| Christiansburg Town Of | 22,000 | 0 (not detected) |
| Christiansburg Elliston Waterline | 3,626 | 2.91 ppb |
| Plum Creek | 1,740 | 0 (not detected) |
| Radford Army Ammunition Plant | 1,602 | 4.37 ppb |
| Bethel Area | 1,247 | 1.2 ppb |
| Riner Community | 1,161 | 2.7 ppb |
| Belview | 1,034 | 0 (not detected) |
| Mudpike Road Waterline | 353 | 0.33 ppb |
| White Pine Village | 130 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Christiansburg, VA
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Christiansburg, VA 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 Prices Fork/Merrimac 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.