New Hanover County – Wilmington – serves about 230,000 residents on the North Carolina coast.
New Hanover County – Wilmington – serves about 230,000 residents on the North Carolina coast. Cape Fear Public Utility Authority draws from the Cape Fear River, which has become nationally known for PFAS contamination. The river is the county's sole drinking water source, and its quality is shaped by everything upstream – including the Chemours Fayetteville Works fluorochemical plant.
New Hanover County is at the downstream end of one of the most significant industrial PFAS contamination events in the United States. The Chemours facility has released GenX and other PFAS compounds into the Cape Fear River for decades. A 2017 investigation by the Wilmington Star-News first brought widespread public attention to the contamination. Cape Fear Public Utility Authority has since installed granular activated carbon treatment to reduce PFAS levels.
According to the NC DEQ's 2024 monitoring data, multiple PFAS compounds including GenX continue to be detected in the Cape Fear River at Wilmington's intake, though at lower concentrations than before Chemours was required to reduce discharges. UCMR5 data confirms ongoing detections in the treated water supply.
New Hanover County's PFAS exposure from upstream industrial sources is well-documented. The utility has installed treatment, but a reverse osmosis system at home provides an additional safety layer.
Check your water for the latest PFAS data in your area. Our water filter guide covers which systems handle GenX and other novel PFAS compounds. Pull your detailed report, and visit our North Carolina page for statewide context.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover New Hanover County, NC.
The EPA places New Hanover 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.
31% of homes in New Hanover County, NC were built before 1980, and 10% 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 New Hanover County, NC averages 6.6 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