Town Of Pickens, MS
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.9 ppb (monitoring period 2021-2023). 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 Town Of Pickens
Town Of Pickens serves about 1,587 people through 601 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Holmes County, Mississippi. EPA system ID: MS0260013; phone on file: 662-468-2171. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Town Of Pickens's lead record
Against the period ending 2020 (0.7 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Town Of Pickens is 0.9 ppb across 3 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 0.9 ppb |
| 2020 | 0.7 ppb |
| 2017 | 0.7 ppb |
How Town Of Pickens compares
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. Town Of Pickens's 0.9 ppb sits at the 45th percentile in Mississippi and the 49th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
19 other systems share Holmes County; 12 of them have a higher latest lead result than Town Of Pickens. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| City Of Durant | 2,932 | 0.6 ppb |
| Lebanon W/A-West | 1,742 | 0.8 ppb |
| Sweet Home Water & Sewer Dist | 1,695 | 2.7 ppb |
| Town Of Tchula | 1,642 | 1.3 ppb |
| City Of Lexington | 1,600 | 0.7 ppb |
| Acona Water Association #1 | 1,373 | 0.8 ppb |
| West Holmes Water Association | 1,245 | 2.1 ppb |
| Town Of Goodman | 1,188 | 1.5 ppb |
| Harland Creek Community W/A-B | 1,177 | 2.3 ppb |
| Holmes Jr College | 1,052 | 1 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Pickens, 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 Town Of Pickens 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. The action level is dropping - the 10 ppb rule from 2027.