Tellico Plains Water Dept, TN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.5 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 Tellico Plains Water Dept
Tellico Plains Water Dept serves about 7,759 people through 3,154 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 groundwater, in Monroe County, Tennessee. EPA system ID: TN0000693; phone on file: 423-253-2333. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Every lead result on file
Against the period ending 2022 (1.14 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Tellico Plains Water Dept is 1.51 ppb across 4 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.5 ppb |
| 2022 | 1.14 ppb |
| 2019 | 1 ppb |
| 2016 | 1.51 ppb |
How Tellico Plains Water Dept 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. Tellico Plains Water Dept's 0.5 ppb sits at the 14th percentile in Tennessee and the 43rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Monroe County
5 other systems share Monroe County; 4 of them have a higher latest lead result than Tellico Plains Water Dept. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Madisonville Water Dept | 15,087 | 1 ppb |
| Tellico Area Services System | 14,836 | 0.5 ppb |
| Sweetwater Utility Board | 13,597 | 1 ppb |
| Laurel Mtn Lakes Water Association | 256 | 1 ppb |
| Mountain Side Estates | 121 | 1.1 ppb |
Next steps for Tellico Plains, TN
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Tellico Plains, 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 Tellico Plains Water Dept 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. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.