South Central Water Assn, MS
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 2 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
South Central Water Assn serves about 12,260 people through 4,644 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 Hinds County, Mississippi. EPA system ID: MS0250022; phone on file: 601-878-9639. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2021 (2.7 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for South Central Water Assn is 2.9 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 2 ppb |
| 2021 | 2.7 ppb |
| 2018 | 2.3 ppb |
| 2016 | 2.9 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. South Central Water Assn's 2 ppb sits at the 79th percentile in Mississippi and the 73rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Neighbouring systems
19 other systems share Hinds County; 6 of them have a higher latest lead result than South Central Water Assn. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| City Of Jackson | 189,673 | 3.2 ppb |
| City Of Jackson-Maddox Rd. | 28,098 | 2.2 ppb |
| City Of Clinton | 25,000 | 1 ppb |
| North Hinds W/A #1-Brownsville | 4,277 | 1.2 ppb |
| Reedtown Water Assn | 3,260 | 3.5 ppb |
| City Of Raymond | 2,788 | 1 ppb |
| North Hinds W/A #6-Shepherd Hills | 2,785 | 1.1 ppb |
| Town Of Edwards | 1,980 | 0.8 ppb |
| North Hinds W/A #2-Chapel Hill | 1,595 | 3.4 ppb |
| Town Of Terry | 1,486 | 7.2 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Raymond, 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 South Central Water Assn 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. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.