Raleigh Durham NC metro: water quality. The Research Triangle draws its water from a network of reservoirs and rivers across central North Carolina.
The Research Triangle draws its water from a network of reservoirs and rivers across central North Carolina. Raleigh's supply comes primarily from Falls Lake on the Neuse River, supplemented by the Little River Reservoir system. Durham relies on Lake Michie and Little River Reservoir. Together, these systems serve the core of a 2.1 million person metro that has been one of the fastest-growing regions in the Southeast for two decades.
Both cities have invested in modernizing their treatment infrastructure as population growth has strained existing capacity. Raleigh's E.M. Johnson Water Treatment Plant and Durham's Brown and Williams plants process water that begins in the rolling Piedmont terrain and picks up agricultural runoff, residential stormwater, and whatever the region's growing development footprint contributes along the way.
North Carolina has been ground zero for PFAS awareness since the GenX contamination in the Cape Fear River made national news. While Raleigh-Durham is not directly downstream from the Chemours Fayetteville Works plant, the political and regulatory fallout has driven more aggressive testing statewide, including in the Triangle.
UCMR5 monitoring has found PFAS compounds in both Raleigh and Durham water supplies, though at levels generally below the federal MCLs of 4 ppt for PFOA and PFOS. The larger concern is the cumulative presence of multiple PFAS compounds that individually fall below limits but together represent meaningful exposure.
Raleigh-Durham International Airport, centrally located between the two cities, has used AFFF firefighting foam. The NC DEQ has included the airport in its statewide PFAS investigation. According to data published by the North Carolina Division of Water Resources, three community water systems in Wake and Durham counties reported PFAS detections above state screening thresholds in 2024.
Among North Carolina metros, the Triangle fares better than the Cape Fear region (directly affected by Chemours) but faces more industrial and airport-related contamination than mountain communities in western NC. Compared to the Charlotte metro, Raleigh-Durham's contamination profile is more influenced by airport AFFF use than by upstream industrial discharge.
Nationally, the Triangle benefits from North Carolina's heightened regulatory attention to PFAS. Because the state moved earlier than most to investigate and disclose contamination, Triangle residents have access to better data than residents of comparably sized metros in states that have been slower to test.
See our North Carolina state page for full statewide data.
Raleigh and Durham operate separate water systems, so start by confirming which one serves your home. Check your water to see monitoring data matched to your address. If you're near RDU airport or in areas where groundwater supplements the surface supply, pay close attention to the specific compounds detected.
Our water filter guide covers filter options that address the PFAS compounds most commonly found in North Carolina water systems, including GenX-class replacements. For a look at how your area's readings have tracked since statewide testing expanded, pull a detailed report.