Is Richlands, NC tap water safe?
The short answer
1 of the 2 utilities serving Richlands has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and CDC’s records: Onslow WTR and Sewer Authority.
Onslow WTR and Sewer Authority, which serves the most people here, has 1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 29.5 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark. A health benchmark is a level EPA screens with, not a legal limit.
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 Richlands’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.
- Open report
Onslow WTR and Sewer Authority
North Carolina · serves 156,755 people · about 210 in Richlands
1 result above EPA’s health benchmark. The worst: Lithium at 29.5 ppb, above EPA’s health benchmark.
1 health-based violation since 2016
- Open report
Northwest Onslow Water Assoc
North Carolina · serves 2,555 people · under 100 in Richlands
Nothing in its records is above a health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
Water testing near Richlands
The 3 labs North Carolina certifies closest to Richlands, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
Beacham Laboratory- Division of Environmental
Jacksonville, NC · about 10 miles
Certified for bacteria
Craven County Health Dept.-Env Health Lab
New Bern, NC · about 30 miles
Certified for bacteria
Cape Fear Analytical, LLC
Wilmington, NC · about 45 miles
Certified for organic chemicals
ZIP codes in Richlands
Which ZIP codes are in Richlands: 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 Richlands
Other towns in Onslow County with a page of their own.
What to do next
- Read Onslow WTR and Sewer Authority’s full reportEvery result with its dates, the violations, and the certification claim that handles each finding.Open the report
- About LithiumWhat it does to health, where it comes from, and the certification claim that addresses it.About Lithium
- On a private well?No utility tests a well. A certified lab test is the first step.How to test well water