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Is Durham, NH tap water safe?

4 utilities serve Durham, by EPA’s records. Here is what EPA’s and CDC’s records show for each, against the legal limits and the stricter health goals.

Matched to your utility using EPA records.

The short answer

2 of the 4 utilities serving Durham have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and CDC’s records: Johnson Creek and Brookdale Spruce Wood.

Unh/Durham Water Sys, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above the health goal. The worst: Uranium at 0.8 ppb, above the health goal. Health goals are stricter than legal limits and are not enforced.

A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Durham’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

Water testing near Durham

A utility tests the water it sends out. A test of your own tap shows what your pipes add, and on a private well it is the only test there is. It takes a lab New Hampshire certifies.

The 3 labs New Hampshire certifies closest to Durham, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Seacoast Analytical Services LLC

    Lee, NH · under a mile

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

    (603) 868-1457

  • Eurofins Portsmouth

    Portsmouth, NH · about 6 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (603) 436-2001

  • Eurofins Derry

    Derry, NH · about 24 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, organic chemicals, disinfection byproducts, PFAS

    (603) 432-3044

All 63 certified labs for New Hampshire

ZIP codes in Durham

Which ZIP codes are in Durham: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: New Hampshire ELAP, drinking water labs, as listed in TNI LAMS; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near Durham

Other towns in Strafford County with a page of their own.

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