Alamance County, North Carolina: drinking water report. Alamance County – Burlington – serves about 165,000 residents between Greensboro and Durham.
Alamance County – Burlington – serves about 165,000 residents between Greensboro and Durham. Water comes from the Haw River and local reservoirs. The county's textile manufacturing legacy has declined but left environmental marks across the landscape.
The Haw River receives upstream contributions from Greensboro and other Piedmont communities. UCMR5 data shows low-level PFAS detections in some county systems. According to NC DEQ's 2024 data, county systems met federal standards.
Former textile mill sites in Burlington and surrounding towns have left localized soil and groundwater contamination, though the drinking water system draws from surface sources that are not directly affected by these legacy sites.
Alamance County's water quality is adequate. The Haw River's upstream influences drive most quality variation.
Check your water for data in your area. A carbon filter handles taste. 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 Alamance County, NC.
The EPA places Alamance 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.
43% of homes in Alamance County, NC were built before 1980, and 11% 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 Alamance 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