South Side U.D. #3, TN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 1 ppb (monitoring period 2023-2025). 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.
About South Side U.D. #3
South Side U.D. #3 serves about 192 people through 75 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws surface water, in Smith County, Tennessee. EPA system ID: TN0000953; phone on file: 615-683-6464. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2022 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for South Side U.D. #3 is 2.3 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 ppb |
| 2022 | 1 ppb |
| 2019 | 0.5 ppb |
| 2016 | 2.3 ppb |
How South Side U.D. #3 compares
Of the 453 Tennessee systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1 ppb; 0 are over 15 ppb right now and 10 have gone over at some point. South Side U.D. #3's 1 ppb sits at the 25th percentile in Tennessee and the 52nd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
6 other systems share Smith County; 0 of them have a higher latest lead result than South Side U.D. #3. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Smith Utility District | 8,466 | 1 ppb |
| South Side U.D. #1 | 4,431 | 1 ppb |
| Carthage Water System | 3,950 | 1 ppb |
| Cordell Hull Utility District | 3,220 | 1 ppb |
| Twenty Five Utility District | 2,159 | 1 ppb |
| South Side U.D. #2 | 702 | 1 ppb |
Your move
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Gordonsville, TN 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 Side U.D. #3 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.