Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Sugar Mountain Utility

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
3,226 people
Connections
1,421
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Banner Elk, NC
County
Avery
Owner
Private
The ZIP code it serves

28604

The short answer

1 result is above the limit’s level with no violation recorded. The worst: Arsenic, above the limit’s level, no violation. 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 1.4 ppm, for the period ending June 30, 1997. None since is on file, so it is not counted as a current finding.

Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, haloacetic acids (HAA5) and uranium: 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 March 5, 2013 to Dec. 30, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the limit’s level, no violation recorded1

Arsenic

Comes from the source

Above the limit’s level, no violation

14.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 14.3 ppb, in 2023, above EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. EPA judges this limit on running averages at each sampling point, and recorded no violation for arsenic at this utility since 2020. Results like these with no violation often include water sampled before treatment or blending; the utility’s annual report says what reaches the tap. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 1.6 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction”

Below EPA’s limits4

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

14.1ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 7.2 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 14.1 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 7.2 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 38.2 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

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

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

0.73ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.73 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 2.0 ppm, in 2018.

What handles it

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

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

1.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 1.3 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 1.3 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 1.3 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 7.4 ppb, in 2017.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.076ppm

Highest yearly average, 2013 to 2019

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.076 ppm, in 2019, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 1.1 ppm. That was also the latest year on file.

What handles it

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

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.”

  • NSF/ANSI 53

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (III) (50 ppb influent level)

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claim: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=50 ppb Reduction

    For: Arsenic

    Other certifiers’ wording: Arsenic (Pentavalent)<=300 ppb Reduction; Arsenic (V) (300 ppb influent level)

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

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 reverse osmosis systems, ranked

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016. There are 2 monitoring or reporting violations: a sample missed, late or not reported.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Arsenic, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), nitrate, haloacetic acids (HAA5) and uranium 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. Sugar Mountain Utility’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 5, 2013 to Dec. 30, 2019.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Water Quality Lab & Operations

    Banner Elk, NC · under a mile

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

    (828) 898-6277

  • Aqua Tech Service and Consulting

    Boone, NC · about 11 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (828) 773-0971

  • Toe River Health District - Avery County

    Newland, NC · about 12 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (828) 733-6031

All 112 certified labs for North Carolina

Sources

PWSID NC0106107. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Avery County

All North Carolina utilities

What to do next