Southwood S/D, 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
Southwood S/D serves about 48 people through 16 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is privately owned and draws groundwater, in Gaston County, North Carolina. EPA system ID: NC0136193; phone on file: 919-653-6999. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Southwood S/D's lead record
That is down 14 ppb from 14 ppb in the period ending 2025. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Southwood S/D is 14 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb (1 over 10 ppb).
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2025 | 14 ppb over 10 |
| 2024 | 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. Southwood S/D's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 5th percentile in North Carolina and the 3rd nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Nearby utilities
134 other systems share Gaston County; 31 of them have a higher latest lead result than Southwood S/D. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Two Rivers Utilities | 96,714 | 0 (not detected) |
| Mount Holly, City Of | 19,200 | 2.05 ppb |
| Belmont, City Of | 17,477 | 0 (not detected) |
| Dallas, Town Of | 8,212 | 0 (not detected) |
| Cherryville, City Of | 6,353 | 0 (not detected) |
| Stanley, Town Of | 5,750 | 2 ppb |
| Bessemer City, City Of | 5,730 | 0 (not detected) |
| Ranlo, Town Of | 4,511 | 0 (not detected) |
| Lowell, City Of | 3,837 | 0 (not detected) |
| Belmont Abbey College | 1,325 | 0 (not detected) |
Next steps for Cary, NC
Look up your address in Southwood S/D'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 Southwood S/D whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do. Its latest copper 90th percentile is 1400 ppb (copper action level 1,300 ppb).
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. A zero today does not rule out a jump later - the rules are tightening in 2027.