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Mountain Spring Water System

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
165 people
Connections
115
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Linville, NC
County
Avery
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

28646

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Uranium, above the health goal. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Copper: EPA’s file records a utility’s copper only when it exceeds the action level. The last here was 2.1 ppm, for the period ending June 30, 2001. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Nitrate, arsenic, haloacetic acids (HAA5) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM): 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.

Uranium, chromium (total) and fluoride: EPA’s compliance monitoring file, samples taken from March 28, 2012 to March 21, 2018. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the health goal1

Uranium

Comes from the source

Above the health goal

0.69ppb

Highest yearly average, 2012 to 2018

2018: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.69 ppb, in 2015: below EPA’s legal limit of 30 ppb, but above its health goal of zero. Its highest single sample was 2.1 ppb. In 2018, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in its one sample.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits3

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

1.8ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.8 ppm, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 4.0 ppm, in 2013.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

3.0ppb

Highest yearly average, 2013 to 2017

Averaged by year, the highest was 3.0 ppb, in 2017, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. Its highest single sample was 21 ppb. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.088ppm

Highest yearly average, 2013 to 2017

2017: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.088 ppm, in 2016, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.35 ppm. In 2017, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its seven samples.

What handles it

4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Haloacetic acids (HAA5)
  • Lead
  • Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

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?

These come with the water itself, so a whole-house system certified for the same claims treats every tap and shower. A filter at the tap treats drinking water for much less. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

None of the filters TapBuff has checked so far carry these claims. Search the certifier listings for the claim above.

Compare five-year costs

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 5 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Nitrate, arsenic, haloacetic acids (HAA5) and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) results here are North Carolina’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Uranium, chromium (total) and fluoride come from EPA’s file alone, which ends in 2019. Mountain Spring Water System’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 March 28, 2012 to March 21, 2018.

Testing your own tap

Mountain Spring Water System’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 Mountain Spring Water System serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Toe River Health District - Avery County

    Newland, NC · about 6 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (828) 733-6031

  • Water Quality Lab & Operations

    Banner Elk, NC · about 7 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics

    (828) 898-6277

  • Aqua Tech Service and Consulting

    Boone, NC · about 15 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (828) 773-0971

All 112 certified labs for North Carolina

Sources

PWSID NC0106114. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Avery County

All North Carolina utilities

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