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Is New Bern, NC tap water safe?

8 utilities serve New Bern, 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

6 of the 8 utilities serving New Bern have a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and CDC’s records: Craven County Water System, Town of River Bend, First Craven Sanitary District and 3 more.

City of New Bern, which serves the most people here, has nothing above a health goal in EPA’s and CDC’s records. That data covers what its report lists, not everything.

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 New Bern’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

Water testing near New Bern

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 North Carolina certifies.

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

  • Craven County Health Dept.-Env Health Lab

    New Bern, NC · about 4 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (252) 636-4920

  • Carteret County Environmental Health

    Morehead City, NC · about 31 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (252) 728-8499

  • Eurofins Greenville

    Greenville, NC · about 32 miles

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

    (252) 756-6208

All 112 certified labs for North Carolina

ZIP codes in New Bern

Which ZIP codes are in New Bern: 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: North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health, certified drinking water laboratories; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.

Near New Bern

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

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