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Town of Four Oaks

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
2,302 people
Connections
1,599
Water source
Surface water bought from another system
Based in
Four Oaks, NC
County
Johnston
Owner
Local government
The ZIP code it serves

27524

The short answer

1 result is above EPA’s legal limit, and 1 more is above the health goal. The worst: Total trihalomethanes (TTHM), above the legal limit. 7 health-based violations since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 1993 to 2025.

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5): 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.

Above the legal limit1

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Above the legal limit

84.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 51.1 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 84.6 ppb, in 2022, above EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 51.1 ppb. EPA recorded violations for total trihalomethanes (TTHM) at this utility in 2020, 2022 and 2023. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 83.1 ppb, in 2016, and EPA recorded violations in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017.

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, 2023 to 2025

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 limits1

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

41.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2023

2023 average: 39.1 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 41.5 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. In 2023, the latest year on file, it averaged 39.1 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 32.5 ppb, in 2019.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

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

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The best water filters for lead, ranked

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageApril 1, 2023 to June 30, 20230.09 MG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2023 to March 31, 20230.085 MG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2022 to Dec. 31, 20220.089 MG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJuly 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 20220.081 MG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 20200.083 MG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageJan. 1, 2017 to March 31, 20170.082 MG/LResolved
TTHMThe running average was above the legal limit.EPA: Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, AverageOct. 1, 2016 to Dec. 31, 20160.087 MG/LResolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 9 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) results here are North Carolina’s yearly averages as CDC publishes them, from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Town of Four Oaks’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has 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.

Testing your own tap

Town of Four Oaks’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 Town of Four Oaks serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Wake County Human Services-Public Health Ctr.

    Raleigh, NC · about 26 miles

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

    (919) 250-4437

  • Eurofins Built Env. Testing East - Cary

    Cary, NC · about 34 miles

    Certified for asbestos

    (919) 481-1413

  • Eurofins Raleigh

    Cary, NC · about 34 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (919) 467-3090

All 112 certified labs for North Carolina

Sources

PWSID NC0351035. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Johnston County

All North Carolina utilities

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