Water quality by county
in North Carolina
EPA sampled public water systems across North Carolina for PFAS under its UCMR 5 programme. Of the 100 counties, 46 have a reading above a federal limit and 8 have not been sampled at all — which is not a clean result, only an absence of one. Each county below shows what was found, at what concentration, and at which utility.
| county | Population | Worst result | Compound |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nash County | 97,990 | 123× | PFOS · 490 ng/L |
| Wake County | 1,232,444 | 15× | PFHxS · 152.6 ng/L |
| Guilford County | 558,816 | 8.9× | PFOS · 35.6 ng/L |
| Cumberland County | 338,430 | 8.3× | PFOS · 33.3 ng/L |
| Robeson County | 118,624 | 7.5× | PFOA · 30 ng/L |
| Granville County | 61,544 | 4.8× | PFOS · 19 ng/L |
| Iredell County | 206,361 | 4.7× | PFOA · 18.8 ng/L |
| Alamance County | 183,040 | 4.3× | PFOS · 17 ng/L |
| Randolph County | 148,389 | 4.1× | PFOS · 16.3 ng/L |
| Cleveland County | 102,194 | 4.0× | PFOS · 16 ng/L |
| Lee County | 68,537 | 4.0× | PFOS · 16 ng/L |
| Brunswick County | 167,112 | 3.8× | PFOS · 15 ng/L |
| Hoke County | 55,382 | 3.8× | PFOS · 15 ng/L |
| Johnston County | 249,794 | 3.8× | PFOS · 15 ng/L |
| Harnett County | 146,096 | 3.6× | PFOS · 14.4 ng/L |
| Chatham County | 83,874 | 3.0× | PFOS · 12.1 ng/L |
| Moore County | 108,417 | 3.0× | PFOS · 12 ng/L |
| Catawba County | 167,054 | 3.0× | PFOA · 11.9 ng/L |
| Orange County | 152,877 | 3.0× | PFOS · 11.8 ng/L |
| Lenoir County | 55,332 | 2.9× | PFOS · 11.5 ng/L |
| Pitt County | 180,783 | 2.9× | PFOS · 11.5 ng/L |
| Cabarrus County | 244,925 | 2.6× | PFOS · 10.3 ng/L |
| Carteret County | 70,259 | 2.0× | PFOS · 8.1 ng/L |
| Wayne County | 120,338 | 1.8× | PFOS · 7.3 ng/L |
| Halifax County | 46,992 | 1.7× | PFOS · 6.9 ng/L |
| Richmond County | 41,990 | 1.7× | PFOS · 6.9 ng/L |
| Northampton County | 16,580 | 1.6× | PFOS · 6.2 ng/L |
| Bladen County | 29,777 | 1.5× | PFOS · 6.1 ng/L |
| Lincoln County | 97,611 | 1.5× | PFOA · 6.1 ng/L |
| Durham County | 343,628 | 1.4× | PFOS · 5.8 ng/L |
| Gaston County | 242,010 | 1.4× | PFOA · 5.8 ng/L |
| Stanly County | 67,326 | 1.4× | PFOS · 5.7 ng/L |
| Anson County | 22,432 | 1.4× | PFOS · 5.5 ng/L |
| Montgomery County | 26,364 | 1.4× | PFOS · 5.5 ng/L |
| Warren County | 19,081 | 1.4× | PFOS · 5.5 ng/L |
| Mecklenburg County | 1,206,285 | 1.4× | PFOS · 5.4 ng/L |
| Rowan County | 153,384 | 1.4× | PFOS · 5.4 ng/L |
| Edgecombe County | 49,124 | 1.3× | PFOS · 5.1 ng/L |
| Union County | 263,386 | 1.2× | PFOS · 4.9 ng/L |
| Franklin County | 79,771 | 1.2× | PFOS · 4.8 ng/L |
| Martin County | 21,523 | 1.2× | PFOS · 4.8 ng/L |
| Vance County | 42,337 | 1.2× | PFOS · 4.8 ng/L |
| Davidson County | 177,809 | 1.2× | PFOS · 4.7 ng/L |
| Person County | 40,143 | 1.1× | PFOS · 4.6 ng/L |
| Greene County | 20,671 | 1.1× | PFOS · 4.3 ng/L |
| Rockingham County | 93,517 | 1.0× | PFOS · 4 ng/L |
| New Hanover County | 243,333 | under the limit | HFPO-DA · 8.4 ng/L |
| Alexander County | 36,693 | under the limit | — |
| Alleghany County | 11,379 | not sampled | — |
| Ashe County | 27,266 | not sampled | — |
| Avery County | 17,811 | not sampled | — |
| Beaufort County | 44,576 | under the limit | — |
| Bertie County | 16,939 | under the limit | — |
| Buncombe County | 279,210 | under the limit | — |
| Burke County | 88,545 | under the limit | — |
| Caldwell County | 80,739 | under the limit | — |
| Camden County | 11,184 | under the limit | — |
| Caswell County | 22,363 | not sampled | — |
| Cherokee County | 30,373 | under the limit | — |
| Chowan County | 13,891 | under the limit | — |
| Clay County | 12,042 | not sampled | — |
| Columbus County | 50,054 | under the limit | — |
| Craven County | 104,167 | under the limit | — |
| Currituck County | 32,278 | under the limit | — |
| Dare County | 38,183 | under the limit | — |
| Davie County | 45,383 | under the limit | — |
| Duplin County | 50,539 | under the limit | — |
| Forsyth County | 398,143 | under the limit | — |
| Gates County | 10,299 | under the limit | — |
| Graham County | 8,179 | not sampled | — |
| Haywood County | 63,048 | under the limit | — |
| Henderson County | 120,771 | under the limit | — |
| Hertford County | 19,169 | under the limit | — |
| Hyde County | 4,583 | under the limit | — |
| Jackson County | 45,281 | under the limit | — |
| Jones County | 9,462 | under the limit | — |
| Macon County | 38,717 | under the limit | — |
| Madison County | 22,352 | not sampled | — |
| McDowell County | 45,269 | under the limit | — |
| Mitchell County | 15,030 | under the limit | — |
| Onslow County | 212,954 | under the limit | — |
| Pamlico County | 12,550 | under the limit | — |
| Pasquotank County | 41,418 | under the limit | — |
| Pender County | 70,077 | under the limit | — |
| Perquimans County | 13,460 | under the limit | — |
| Polk County | 20,320 | under the limit | — |
| Rutherford County | 65,587 | under the limit | — |
| Sampson County | 60,404 | under the limit | — |
| Scotland County | 33,898 | under the limit | — |
| Stokes County | 45,857 | under the limit | — |
| Surry County | 71,547 | under the limit | — |
| Swain County | 13,945 | under the limit | — |
| Transylvania County | 34,103 | under the limit | — |
| Tyrrell County | 3,517 | not sampled | — |
| Washington County | 10,654 | under the limit | — |
| Watauga County | 54,997 | under the limit | — |
| Wilkes County | 66,186 | under the limit | — |
| Wilson County | 79,958 | under the limit | — |
| Yadkin County | 37,995 | under the limit | — |
| Yancey County | 18,993 | under the limit | — |