Macon County, North Carolina: drinking water report. Macon County – Franklin – serves about 37,000 residents in the Nantahala Mountains.
Macon County – Franklin – serves about 37,000 residents in the Nantahala Mountains. Water comes from mountain streams in the Little Tennessee River watershed. The remote mountain setting provides exceptional source water quality.
Macon County's mountain sources are pristine. UCMR5 data shows no PFAS detections. According to NC DEQ's 2024 data, systems met all standards. The Nantahala National Forest protects much of the county's watershed.
Macon County's water quality is outstanding, protected by mountain forests.
Check your water for data. Our water filter guide covers options if desired. Pull your detailed report, and visit our North Carolina page for statewide data.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Macon County, NC.
The EPA places Macon County, NC in Zone 2 - a moderate-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level between 2 and 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
39% of homes in Macon County, NC were built before 1980, and 7% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Macon County, NC averages 6.2 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide
11 public water systems serving Macon County, NC have EPA lead testing on record. The reported lead sample skews toward systems that already flagged a problem, so its exceedance rate is not directly comparable with other areas. 6 water systems serving Macon County, NC carry a health-based EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violation.
| Most-cited violation type | Systems affected |
|---|---|
| Lead and Copper Rule | 5 |
| Lead and Copper Rule Revisions | 3 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | 1 |
Source: EPA Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile tap sampling and EPA SDWIS Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement records, aggregated from the public water systems serving this county. Figures are counts of water systems, not a test of any individual home or tap.