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Fairfield Mountains No 1

What EPA’s and CDC’s records show in this utility’s water: nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
1,798 people
Connections
708
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Lake Lure, NC
County
Rutherford
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

28746

The short answer

2 results are above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2025.

Uranium, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic and nitrate: North Carolina’s yearly averages per water system, as CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network publishes them, 2020 to 2023, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Fluoride and chromium (total): EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from April 10, 2012 to April 23, 2018. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal2

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

3.9ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 3.9 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

7.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2022

Averaged by year, the highest was 7.5 ppb, in 2022: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. That is the only year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 12.8 ppb, in 2013.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits3

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.97ppm

Highest yearly average, 2012 to 2018

2018 average: 0.9 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.97 ppm, in 2015, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 1.7 ppm. In 2018, the latest year on file, its four samples averaged 0.9 ppm.

What handles it

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

15.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 15.5 ppb, in 2022, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 12 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

5.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 5.4 ppb, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 7.5 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

3 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Nitrate

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There is 1 monitoring or reporting violation: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Uranium, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic and nitrate results here are North Carolina’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Fluoride and chromium (total) come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Fairfield Mountains No 1’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has newer results for those and the contaminants this page does not show.

  • Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.

  • What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.

  • Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 didn’t sample this utility; CDC’s yearly averages for North Carolina cover 2020 to 2023; EPA’s compliance samples are from April 10, 2012 to April 23, 2018.

Testing your own tap

Fairfield Mountains No 1’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab North Carolina certifies.

The 3 labs North Carolina certifies closest to the area Fairfield Mountains No 1 serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Henderson County Health Department

    Hendersonville, NC · about 13 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (828) 694-6109

  • Clean Water Labs

    Columbus, NC · about 19 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate

    (828) 393-4136

  • James & James Environmental Management, Inc.

    Hendersonville, NC · about 21 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (828) 697-0063

All 112 certified labs for North Carolina

Sources

PWSID NC0181126. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Rutherford County

All North Carolina utilities

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