North Carolina tap water
66 of 271 North Carolina water systems with full PFAS testing (24%) averaged above a 2024 federal PFAS level at one or more sampling points.
- 1,973 active community water systems in the EPA file; 250 serve 3,300+ people and have a full PFAS set.
- 407 systems had at least one health-based violation since 2021-10-26.
- 14 systems report a lead 90th percentile above 15 ppb (some results are old; check each system page).
Largest systems
| System | People served | PFAS above a 2024 level? | Health-based violations since 2021-10-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte Water | 1,206,285 | No | 0 |
| Raleigh, City of | 650,000 | No | 0 |
| Winston-Salem, City of | 391,900 | No | 0 |
| Durham, City of | 333,490 | Yes, at one or more sampling points | 0 |
| Greensboro, City of | 319,588 | Yes, at one or more sampling points | 0 |
| Cary, Town of | 227,300 | No | 1 |
| Fayetteville Public Works Comm | 226,441 | Yes, at one or more sampling points | 0 |
| Cfpua-Wilmington | 212,227 | No | 0 |
All 38 utilities with a page in North Carolina
- Apex, Town of 83,001
- Asheville City of 157,431
- Brunswick County Water System 151,357
- Brunswick Regional Water and Sewer H2go 51,252
- Burlington, City of 61,365
- Cary, Town of 227,300
- Cfpua-Wilmington 212,227
- Charlotte Water 1,206,285
- Cleveland County Water 59,395
- Concord, City of 120,771
- Davidson Water Inc 154,307
- Durham, City of 333,490
- Fayetteville Public Works Comm 226,441
- Greensboro, City of 319,588
- Greenville Utilities Comm 103,140
- Harnett Regional Water 121,885
- Hendersonville, City of 79,278
- Hickory City of 71,393
- High Point, City of 118,662
- Holly Springs, Town of 51,947
- Jacksonville City of 49,093
- Johnston Co-West 99,027
- Kannapolis, City of 56,050
- Lincoln County Wtp 49,693
- Monroe, City of 43,081
- Mooresville Town of 54,455
- Old North Utilities Services/Ft Bragg 65,000
- Onslow Wtr and Sewer Authority 156,755
- Orange Water & Sewer Authority 86,500
- Raleigh, City of 650,000
- Robeson County Water System 67,970
- Rocky Mount, City of 55,891
- Salisbury-Rowan 46,156
- Sanford, City of 48,350
- Two Rivers Utilities 96,714
- Union County Water System 169,685
- Wilson, City of 50,332
- Winston-Salem, City of 391,900
Why not "the state's water quality"? You drink from one utility, not a state. Rollups count systems, not people, so one large utility counts the same as a small one. Use the system pages for your actual water.
Not medical or legal advice. UCMR 5 results are screening data, not compliance determinations.
Sources and freshness
Public-water-system facts, violations and lead/copper results: EPA ECHO SDWA download (SDWIS snapshot 2026-10-13). PFAS and lithium results: EPA UCMR 5 final data (sampling 2023–2025). Both are U.S. government works, downloaded 2026-10-26. Numbers are computed by the published method; the same fields are in the open data files.