Skip to content
TapBuff
ZIP

Is Oriental, NC tap water safe?

2 utilities serve Oriental, 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 Oriental has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and CDC’s records: Pamlico County Water.

Pamlico County Water, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above the health goal and 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 38.5 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. 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 Oriental’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 Pamlico County Water’s water, which serves the most people here. Another utility’s report names what handles its own results.

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

Every claim, and more filters, in the full report

Water testing near Oriental

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 Oriental, 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 23 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (252) 728-8499

  • Craven County Health Dept.-Env Health Lab

    New Bern, NC · about 25 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (252) 636-4920

  • Eurofins Greenville

    Greenville, NC · about 46 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 Oriental

Which ZIP codes are in Oriental: 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 Oriental

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

What to do next