Does Durham, NC Tap Water Have Pesticides in It?

Triangle Waterworks · informational guide

Direct answer: Durham's 2025 Water Quality Report tested for atrazine and simazine four separate times during the year and both came back non-detect, under 0.1 parts per billion against limits of 3 and 4 ppb. That's Durham's own reservoirs, not Raleigh's or Cary's water. The same report shows measurable PFAS and disinfection byproducts, and publishes no hardness figure at all — only a test at your address answers that.

Is Durham's water tested for atrazine and simazine, and what did the city find?

Yes. Durham's 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report includes a dedicated Synthetic Organic Chemical (SOC) Contaminants table, and it names atrazine and simazine specifically. Both were sampled four times in 2025 — February, May, August, and November — and both returned "Non-Detect" at under 0.1 ppb.

Atrazine's legal limit is 3 ppb; simazine's is 4 ppb. Durham's result isn't "close to the line and technically fine" — it's below the level the lab's method can even measure. That's a genuine, sourced non-detect, not an estimate.

Why doesn't Durham's water match Raleigh's or Cary's numbers?

Because Durham runs its own utility, with its own source water and its own treatment plants, separate from both. Durham's report names Lake Michie and the Little River Reservoir as its surface water sources, treated at the city's Williams and Brown Water Treatment Plants — a different system entirely from Raleigh's Falls Lake supply or the Cary/Apex facility on Jordan Lake.

Interestingly, Durham's 2025 report also notes the system "purchased water from the Town of Cary during this year," an interconnection some Durham customers may not realize exists. That doesn't mean Durham's numbers track Cary's — Durham's own reservoirs still supply the bulk of what reaches most taps, and the city's contaminant tables are reported as one combined system.

Where does Durham's water actually come from?

Lake Michie and the Little River Reservoir are both Durham-owned impoundments north of the city, and the state's Source Water Assessment Program rates both "Higher" susceptibility to potential contaminant sources — a watershed characteristic, not a measured result. Durham runs its own Watershed Protection Program and a long-range water resources plan specifically to manage that exposure over time.

Durham's 2025 report also confirms zero drinking water violations for the full calendar year, covering more than 150 monitored contaminants.

What does Durham's report NOT tell you about your own tap?

Durham's Consumer Confidence Report, like most, is a system-wide summary — it doesn't publish a hardness figure at all. Cary and Apex publish theirs; Raleigh's runs about 1.3 to 2.1 grains per gallon by its own report. Durham's simply doesn't appear anywhere in the document.

That's not an oversight worth chasing down; it's just what the report covers. Mineral hardness varies house to house depending on your distance from the treatment plant and your neighborhood's plumbing, which is exactly why the only number that describes your Durham tap is a test done at your own address, not a citywide average that doesn't exist for hardness in the first place.

What else shows up in Durham's own water quality report?

Pesticides came back clean, but Durham's report still lists real, measurable substances a whole-home system is built to address. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) show a highest running annual average of 56 ppb, with individual sample results ranging 26 to 54 ppb, against an 80 ppb legal limit. Haloacetic acids (HAA5) run a highest running annual average of 49 ppb, ranging 13 to 48 ppb, against a 60 ppb limit.

Durham's unregulated-contaminant table also lists PFAS: PFOS averaging 5.6 parts per trillion and ranging up to 7.2 ppt, PFOA averaging 3.8 ppt and ranging up to 5.7 ppt, plus PFBS and PFBA at similar levels. None of it is a violation as reported, but none of it is zero either, and softening resin does nothing to any of it.

EPA's own National Primary Drinking Water Regulations table lists TTHM's potential health effect from long-term exposure above the MCL as "liver, kidney or central nervous system problems; increased risk of cancer," and HAA5's as "increased risk of cancer." Compliant water sits under a ceiling EPA set with those exact compounds in mind — a carbon filter stage removes them rather than relying on staying under that line.

Durham's own report vs. what it tells you about your tap

Ready to see what's actually coming out of your Durham tap?

Durham's own report answers the pesticide question honestly — non-detect — but it can't answer the one question that actually determines what you need at home: what your specific tap measures. Take our 60-second water quiz to see which all-in-one system fits your Durham address, or book a free water analysis and get the hardness number Durham's report doesn't publish.

FAQ

I just moved to Durham from Raleigh and the numbers in my new water report look totally different — is something wrong? Nothing's wrong. Durham runs its own utility with its own reservoirs, Lake Michie and the Little River Reservoir, entirely separate from Raleigh's Falls Lake supply. Different source water and treatment produce different numbers on paper; it's not a sign either city's water is worse.

Does Durham's water have pesticides in it or not? Durham's 2025 report tested specifically for atrazine and simazine four times during the year and found both non-detect, under 0.1 ppb against limits of 3 and 4 ppb. That's a real, documented answer, not an assumption — the report still shows measurable disinfection byproducts and PFAS separately.

Why doesn't Durham publish a hardness number when Cary, Apex, and Raleigh all do? Durham's Consumer Confidence Report simply doesn't include a citywide hardness figure in its published tables, and that's true across recent years of the report, not a one-time gap. The only way to know your own Durham address's hardness is a test at the tap, which is what our free water analysis provides.

I heard Durham buys some water from Cary — does that mean my water is really Cary's water? Durham's 2025 report notes the system purchased water from the Town of Cary during the year, but Durham's own reservoirs still supply the water reported in its tables, and the city reports contaminant levels as one combined system. It's worth knowing the interconnection exists, but it doesn't mean your tap matches Cary's published numbers.

What's the actual health concern in Durham's water if pesticides aren't detected? Based on Durham's own 2025 report, it's disinfection byproducts and detectable PFAS — TTHM up to 56 ppb, HAA5 up to 49 ppb, and PFOS up to 7.2 parts per trillion. All are below their respective legal limits, but a carbon filter stage removes them rather than counting on staying under that line.

How do I find out my actual hardness number if Durham won't publish one? Ask for a free water analysis, which tests your specific address rather than relying on a citywide average that doesn't exist for hardness in Durham's case. That's the same test we use across the rest of the Triangle to size an all-in-one softening-and-carbon system correctly.

Sources

• City of Durham — 2025 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report
• EPA — National Primary Drinking Water Regulations

Related reading: Water Softener Durham, NC | How to Test Water Hardness at Home in Durham, NC | PFAS Forever Chemicals in Durham, NC | Why Does My Durham Water Taste Like Chlorine? | Pesticides & Herbicides in the Triangle's Tap Water