Is Burlington, NC tap water safe?
Supplied by City of Burlington · serves 61,365 people (25,704 connections) · Surface water · EPA ID NC0201010
Data: U.S. EPA · How we read the data · How we check it
Most of Burlington gets its water from City of Burlington. Parts of the city are served by 8 smaller systems: Village of Alamance (1,200 people), Forest Valley MHP (117 people), Park Place Water System (99 people), Robben Mh Court Water System (75 people) and 4 more. Your water bill names your system.
Buys water from City of Graham, City of Greensboro. Treated water bought from another system can carry that system's contaminants.
Summary
PFAS above the 2024 federal limits. Systems have until 2029 to meet the PFAS limits.
Is it an emergency? No: PFAS limits are about years of exposure, not a glass of water, and nothing in EPA's data calls for you to stop drinking the water today. If your utility ever issues a boil-water or do-not-drink notice, follow it.
- PFAS
- Above limitPFOA, PFOS above the federal limit in EPA's 2023–2025 testing (PFOA 8.38 ppt vs a limit of 4 ppt, PFOS 8.97 ppt vs a limit of 4 ppt, where ppt = parts per trillion).
- Lead
- Below action level0 ppb (parts per billion) at the 90th percentile: 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below it. Action level 15 ppb, falling to 10 ppb in Nov 2027. Monitoring period ending Dec 2025. Your home's pipes can make yours higher.
- Violations
- Resolved1 health-based violation since 2016, most recently Jul 2021. One required an urgent public notice within 24 hours (the kind behind boil-water notices), most recently Jul 2021. What to do if you get a notice.
- Pregnant, or mixing baby formula with tap water? Babies drink more water for their size, so PFAS exposure matters more for them. Consider bottled water or a filter certified for PFAS for formula, and ask your doctor. Health effects.
- To lower your PFAS exposure now, a home filter certified for PFAS reduction works (reverse osmosis, or activated carbon certified to NSF/ANSI 53 or 58). Filters for these results.
- Built before 1986, or not sure what your service line is made of? Check your service line and test your tap. Utility data can't show your pipes.
- Got a boil-water or do-not-drink notice? What each notice means and what to do.
- Tested your own tap? Compare your result with these numbers. Moving? Compare this system with another.
- Read City of Burlington's annual water quality report (Consumer Confidence Report). It lists every regulated contaminant tested and is usually on the utility's website or mailed with your bill, and you can also request it at (336) 222-5130. EPA: how to find it.
PFAS (“forever chemicals”)
EPA UCMR 5: 2 entry points tested Jul 2024 to Apr 2025. "Average" is the highest entry-point average (non-detects counted as zero), the way EPA compares UCMR 5 results to the limits. ppt = parts per trillion. These results do not determine compliance.
| Contaminant | Highest average |
|---|---|
| PFOA Above limit Limit 4 ppt | 8.38 ppt 2.09× the limit |
| PFOS Above limit Limit 4 ppt | 8.97 ppt 2.24× the limit |
| PFHxS Detected, below limit Limit 10 ppt | 0.8 ppt 8% of the limit |
| PFNA Not detected Limit 10 ppt | – |
| HFPO-DA (GenX) Not detected Limit 10 ppt | – |
| Hazard Index (a combined score for PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS, where above 1 is over the limit) Detected, below limit Limit 1 | 0.08 |
| PFBS Not detected Guideline 2,000 ppt | – |
| PFBA Not detected Guideline 6,000 ppt | – |
| PFHxA Detected, below limit Guideline 3,000 ppt | 2.67 ppt |
| PFPeA Detected, no limit | 1.03 ppt |
| PFHpA Detected, no limit | 1.05 ppt |
| 6:2 FTS Detected, no limit | 2.43 ppt |
For context: the PFOA average is higher than at 96% of the North Carolina systems EPA tested and the PFOS average is higher than at 88% of the North Carolina systems EPA tested.
29 PFAS tested, 7 detected at least once. "Not detected" means below EPA's reporting limit (about 2 to 20 ppt depending on the chemical), not proven zero. PFAS not listed were not detected. The limits for PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and the Hazard Index were proposed for rescission in May 2026. That proposal is not final. Systems have until 2029 to meet the limits.
Lithium
Not detected in 8 samples (reporting limit 9 ppb). About lithium.
Lead and copper
Latest 90th percentile: 0 ppb lead (Jan 2023 – Dec 2025). Below action level
| Monitoring period | Lead (90th pct.) |
|---|---|
| Jan 2023 – Dec 2025 | 0 ppb |
| Jan 2020 – Dec 2022 | 0 ppb |
| Jan 2017 – Dec 2019 | 0 ppb |
Earlier results (8)
| Jan 2014 – Dec 2016 | 0 ppb |
| Jan 2012 – Jun 2012 | 0 ppb |
| Jul 2011 – Dec 2011 | 5 ppb |
| Jan 2008 – Dec 2010 | 0 ppb |
| Jan 2005 – Dec 2007 | 4 ppb |
| Jul 2002 – Dec 2002 | 0 ppb |
| Jan 1993 – Jun 1993 | 0 ppb |
| Jul 1992 – Dec 1992 | 5 ppb |
Lead comes from pipes and fixtures, not the source water, so it varies home to home. The 90th percentile means 9 in 10 sampled homes were at or below it. More on lead.
Violations
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| Jul 2021 | E. coli was confirmed in the water. E. coli means the water may have been contaminated with sewage or animal waste. Urgent public notice required What that means EPA record: Revised Total Coliform Rule · Maximum Contaminant Level Violation, E. coli (RTCR) Resolved |
Health-based violations mean a contaminant exceeded a limit or a required treatment step was missed. Monitoring and reporting violations mean required tests or reports were late or missing, so the water's quality during that time is unknown. The total includes every violation in EPA's records, most of them paperwork.
Earlier EPA testing (2013–2020)
| Contaminant | Highest | Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| Manganese | 49.8 ppb | 300 ppb |
| Chromium-6 | 0.076 ppb | – |
| Strontium | 0.091 ppm | 1.5 ppm |
| Vanadium | 0.61 ppb | 21 ppb |
| Chlorate | 420 ppb | 210 ppb |
Where it serves
Burlington
ZIP codes the system reported serving: 27201, 27215, 27216, 27217, 27244, 27249, 27253, 27258, 27377
Nearby utilities
- Town of Elon Elon · 3 mi · PFAS above limit
- Town of Gibsonville Gibsonville · 4 mi · PFAS above limit
- City of Graham Mebane · 11 mi · PFAS above limit
- City of Mebane Mebane · 11 mi · PFAS above limit
- Orange-Alamance Water System Efland · 17 mi · PFAS above limit
- City of Greensboro Greensboro · 20 mi · PFAS above limit
Questions
Is Burlington tap water safe to drink?
Most of Burlington gets its water from City of Burlington. City of Burlington had 1 health-based violation since 2016, all since resolved. EPA testing found PFAS above the 2024 federal limits, which systems must meet by 2029. Federal data can't tell you about your own pipes: lead comes from service lines and plumbing, so test your tap if your home was built before 1986. For the official word, read the utility's annual Consumer Confidence Report.
Does Burlington water have PFAS?
Yes. EPA's 2023–2025 testing of City of Burlington found 7 PFAS at least once. The highest entry-point averages were above the federal limit for PFOA and PFOS: PFOA 8.38 ppt, PFOS 8.97 ppt (limit 4 ppt for PFOA and PFOS, 10 ppt for the others).
What is the lead level in Burlington water?
The most recent 90th-percentile lead result for City of Burlington is 0 ppb, for the period ending Dec 2025. The federal action level is 15 ppb, falling to 10 ppb in November 2027. The 90th percentile means 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below this number. Individual homes can be higher.
Check these numbers yourself
Every figure on this page comes from public EPA records. You don't have to take our word for it:
- EPA's own report for NC0201010: violations, enforcement and inspections, straight from EPA.
- EPA UCMR 5 data: the PFAS and lithium results (search the file for PWSID NC0201010).
- EPA SDWIS download: the lead results, population and violation records we use.
- The utility's annual water quality report (Consumer Confidence Report): ask City of Burlington at (336) 222-5130, or see EPA's guide to finding it.
Found something that doesn't match? Tell us and we'll check it against EPA's records. How we check our data.
Source: U.S. EPA drinking water records and PFAS testing (UCMR 5). How we read the data.