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Is Oak Island, NC tap water safe?

2 utilities serve Oak Island, 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

1 of the 2 utilities serving Oak Island has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and CDC’s records: Brunswick County Water System.

Town of Oak Island, which serves the most people here, has 2 results above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029. The worst: PFOS at 12 ppt, above EPA’s new limit, which takes effect in 2029.

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 Oak Island’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

What handles it

Each of these is certified, on a certifier’s listing, for a result above a line in Town of Oak Island’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

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Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Oak Island

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 Oak Island, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Brunswick County Health Department

    Bolivia, NC · about 6 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (910) 253-2261

  • Alliance Technical Group, LLC - Wilmington

    Wilmington, NC · about 16 miles

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

    (910) 793-0128

  • New Hanover County Health Dept.

    Wilmington, NC · about 23 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (910) 798-6642

All 112 certified labs for North Carolina

ZIP codes in Oak Island

Which ZIP codes are in Oak Island: 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 Oak Island

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

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