Southeast Catawba County, NC
Lead reported as not detected
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2026-2028). 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.
Southeast Catawba County at a glance
Southeast Catawba County serves about 5,080 people through 2,000 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 Catawba County, North Carolina. EPA system ID: NC2018004; phone on file: 828-323-7427. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Southeast Catawba County's lead record
Against the period ending 2025 (0 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Southeast Catawba County is 0 ppb across 2 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2028 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
Where this result ranks
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. Southeast Catawba County's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 69th percentile in North Carolina and the 35th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Nearby utilities
78 other systems share Catawba County; 24 of them have a higher latest lead result than Southeast Catawba County. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Hickory City Of | 71,393 | 0 (not detected) |
| Newton, City Of | 18,407 | 0 (not detected) |
| Conover, City Of | 15,347 | 0 (not detected) |
| Maiden, Town Of | 5,563 | 0 (not detected) |
| Longview, Town Of | 5,244 | 0 (not detected) |
| Claremont, City Of | 2,645 | 0 (not detected) |
| Catawba, Town Of | 1,617 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cross Country Campground Inc | 627 | 0 (not detected) |
| Pebble Bay | 587 | 10 ppb |
| Homestead S/D Water System | 389 | 5 ppb |
Your move
Look up your address in Southeast Catawba County'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 Southeast Catawba County 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. A zero today does not rule out a jump later - the rules are tightening in 2027.