Union County, North Carolina: drinking water report. Union County sits southeast of Charlotte, home to about 250,000 residents in communities like Monroe,…
Union County sits southeast of Charlotte, home to about 250,000 residents in communities like Monroe, Indian Trail, and Weddington. Union County Public Works draws from the Rocky River and purchases supplemental water from Charlotte Water and the Anson County water system.
Union County's water sources are surface water from small Piedmont rivers and purchased Charlotte water from the Catawba system. UCMR5 data shows minimal PFAS detections. The county's suburban character means contamination sources are primarily diffuse rather than industrial.
According to NC DEQ's 2024 monitoring data, county systems met all federal standards. Growth pressure is the main water quality dynamic – the county has nearly doubled in population since 2000, expanding infrastructure rapidly.
Union County's water quality is good. Rapid growth and new infrastructure are the primary dynamics to watch.
Check your water for data in your area. A carbon filter handles taste concerns. Our water filter guide covers options. Pull your detailed report, and visit our North Carolina page for statewide data.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Union County, NC.
The EPA places Union County, NC in Zone 3 - the EPA's lowest-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level below 2 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.
20% of homes in Union County, NC were built before 1980, and 4% 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 Union County, NC averages 7.8 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
8 public water systems serving Union 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. 5 water systems serving Union County, NC carry a health-based EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violation.
| Most-cited violation type | Systems affected |
|---|---|
| Revised Total Coliform Rule | 2 |
| Lead and Copper Rule | 2 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | 2 |
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.