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Merrimon 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
91 people
Connections
36
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Merrimon, NC
County
Carteret
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

28516

The short answer

1 result is above the limit’s level with no violation recorded, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), above the limit’s level, no violation. No health-based violations on file since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2025 to 2028.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic, nitrate 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 Feb. 4, 2013 to Feb. 1, 2019. Newer results are in the utility’s annual water quality report.

Above the limit’s level, no violation recorded1

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the limit’s level, no violation

86.3ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 86.3 ppb, in 2023, above EPA’s legal limit of 80 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 total trihalomethanes (TTHM) 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 67.8 ppb, in 2012, and EPA recorded a violation in 2012.

What handles it

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

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

3.0ppb

90th percentile, 2026 to 2028

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 3.0 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits2

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

50.8ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

Averaged by year, the highest was 50.8 ppb, in 2023, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. That was also the latest year on file. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 51.5 ppb, in 2012, and EPA recorded a violation in 2012.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.32ppm

Highest yearly average, 2013 to 2019

2019, one sample: 0.28 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.32 ppm, in 2013, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. In 2019, the latest year on file, its one sample was 0.28 ppm.

What handles it

4 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Chromium (total)
  • Nitrate
  • 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

    Claims: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), Lead

    Other certifiers’ wording: VOC Reduction

  • NSF/ANSI 58

    Claims: Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction, Lead Reduction

    For: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), Lead

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. 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 water filters for lead, ranked

Violations since 2016

No health-based violations on file with EPA since 2016.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), arsenic, nitrate 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. Merrimon 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 Feb. 4, 2013 to Feb. 1, 2019.

Testing your own tap

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

  • Carteret County Environmental Health

    Morehead City, NC · about 16 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (252) 728-8499

  • Craven County Health Dept.-Env Health Lab

    New Bern, NC · about 35 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (252) 636-4920

  • Beacham Laboratory- Division of Environmental

    Jacksonville, NC · about 55 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (910) 392-0223

All 112 certified labs for North Carolina

Sources

PWSID NC0416198. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Also in Carteret County

All North Carolina utilities

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