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Is Surf City, NC tap water safe?

3 utilities serve Surf City, 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

2 of the 3 utilities serving Surf City have 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 and Town of Surf City.

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 Surf City’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.

Water testing near Surf City

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

  • Cape Fear Analytical, LLC

    Wilmington, NC · about 20 miles

    Certified for organic chemicals

    (910) 795-0421

  • Environmental Chemists, Inc.

    Wilmington, NC · about 20 miles

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

    (910) 392-0223

  • Onterris Laboratories, LLC- Wilmington

    Wilmington, NC · about 20 miles

    Certified for PFAS

    (910) 876-6895

All 112 certified labs for North Carolina

ZIP codes in Surf City

Which ZIP codes are in Surf City: 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 Surf City

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

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