Does Raleigh, NC Tap Water Have Pesticides in It?

Triangle Waterworks · informational guide

Direct answer: Raleigh Water's 2025 Consumer Confidence Report lists no atrazine, simazine, or other pesticide/herbicide detections in its contaminant tables — the report only lists substances actually found during testing, so none turned up. That's a real, verified non-detect. Raleigh's water still carries measurable disinfection byproducts, detectable PFAS, and slightly-to-moderately hard minerals, which is exactly what the all-in-one carbon-and-softening system is built to handle.

What does Raleigh Water's own report say about pesticides and herbicides?

Raleigh Water's 2025 Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) is built around three data tables: Regulated Substances, Secondary Substances, and Unregulated Substances. None of the three lists atrazine, simazine, or any synthetic organic pesticide or herbicide.

That absence is meaningful, not a gap in the document. The report states plainly that its tables "list all the drinking water contaminants that we detected in the last round of sampling for each particular contaminant group." Pesticides and herbicides not appearing in any table means none showed up above reporting limits during the monitored period.

That's a genuine, sourced non-detect answer for pesticides specifically — worth knowing, and worth not stopping at.

Where does Raleigh's water come from, and why does that matter for pesticide risk?

Raleigh's source water is Falls Lake, in northern Wake County, plus a smaller draw from Lake Benson in Garner. The state's own Source Water Assessment Program rates both as "High" susceptibility to potential contaminant sources — a watershed-level rating about exposure risk, not a statement about what's actually detected downstream after treatment.

Falls Lake sits in a mixed watershed of suburban development, farmland, and lawns upstream of the intake, which is the kind of land use that can carry agricultural and residential pesticide runoff. Raleigh Water runs a watershed protection program specifically to reduce that exposure before it ever reaches the plant.

How do I read Raleigh Water's Consumer Confidence Report myself?

You don't have to take a blog post's word for it. Raleigh Water posts its CCR at raleighnc.gov, and the reading order that actually tells you something is: check the Regulated Substances table first for hardness, TTHM, and HAA5; then Unregulated Substances for anything without a legal limit yet; then look for any row named after a specific pesticide (atrazine, simazine, metolachlor) — if it's absent, it wasn't detected.

The 2025 report's Unregulated Substances table lists total hardness averaging 25.2 parts per million (as CaCO3), ranging 21.9–35.3 ppm across the year — about 1.3 to 2.1 grains per gallon on the WQA/Hach scale, squarely in the "slightly hard" band.

If pesticides aren't the issue, what else is actually in Raleigh's water?

A pesticide non-detect doesn't mean nothing is there. Raleigh's 2025 CCR shows total trihalomethanes (TTHM) averaging 34.2 parts per billion, ranging up to 42.8 ppb against an 80 ppb legal limit, and haloacetic acids (HAA5) averaging 22.0 ppb, ranging up to 33.6 ppb against a 60 ppb limit. Both are legally compliant — and both are disinfection byproducts a carbon filter stage removes.

Raleigh's own PFAS monitoring page shows finished water at both treatment plants running PFOS between 1.15 and 2.98 parts per trillion and PFOA between 2.21 and 2.94 ppt across 2025's four quarters, under the 4.0 ppt federal limit for each. Detectable is not the same as unsafe by current standards, but it's also not zero, and PFAS is not something softening resin touches at all.

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." Legally compliant water sits under a ceiling EPA itself set based on that risk — it isn't a promise of zero exposure, and a carbon stage removes these compounds instead of relying on staying under the line.

How hard is Raleigh's water, and does that matter here?

Raleigh's own 2025 report puts hardness at roughly 1.3 to 2.1 grains per gallon, slightly hard on the WQA/Hach scale. Our own testing across the Raleigh service area, including Garner, Knightdale, Wake Forest, Wendell, and Zebulon, runs 1.6 to 3.7 gpg by ZIP code — the same slightly-hard-to-moderately-hard range, just measured at the tap instead of averaged plant-wide.

Neither number is wrong; they're measuring different points in the system. A plant average won't tell you what's actually coming out of your kitchen faucet, which is why the number that matters is the one from your own address.

Does Raleigh's annual chlorine switch change any of this?

Raleigh normally disinfects with chloramine, which the city says carries no associated taste or odor. Once a year, on the NC Department of Environmental Quality's recommendation, Raleigh converts to free chlorine only and flushes the distribution system — a period that ran February 26 through April 2 in 2026, though the exact dates shift year to year and Raleigh Water announces them directly.

That switch is reflected right in the 2025 CCR: chlorine residual is reported ranging up to 3.95 ppm during the year, well above what a chloramine-only system would show. It's the period when a lot of Raleigh residents notice a taste change, and it's a real, documented event rather than a rumor.

What Raleigh's report shows vs. what a home carbon stage handles

Ready to see what's actually in your Raleigh tap?

Reading Raleigh Water's report tells you what the plant sent out; it doesn't tell you what's built up in your own pipes or what your specific address measures. Take our 60-second water quiz to see which all-in-one system fits your Raleigh home, or book a free water analysis and get an actual reading instead of a plant-wide average.

FAQ

I just read Raleigh Water's report and don't see pesticides listed anywhere — does that mean my water is completely clean? It means pesticides and herbicides weren't detected above reporting limits during 2025 testing, which is a real and useful answer. It doesn't mean nothing else is present — the same report shows measurable disinfection byproducts and detectable PFAS, both of which a carbon filter stage addresses and neither of which shows up if you only check for pesticides.

My neighbor in Cary says their water report looks different from Raleigh's — why? Raleigh and Cary draw from different sources and run different treatment plants. Raleigh uses Falls Lake and Lake Benson; Cary and Apex share the Cary/Apex Water Treatment Facility on Jordan Lake. Different watersheds produce different contaminant profiles, so comparing the two reports directly isn't apples to apples.

How often does Raleigh Water actually test for pesticides like atrazine? The CCR doesn't break out testing frequency for compounds that returned non-detect, since only detected substances get their own table row under EPA's disclosure rule. If you want the underlying monitoring schedule, Raleigh Water's Department of Public Utilities can provide it directly.

Is Falls Lake more at risk for pesticide runoff than Jordan Lake? Both watersheds carry a "High" susceptibility rating from the state's Source Water Assessment Program, which reflects the presence of potential contaminant sources nearby, not a measured pesticide level. Falls Lake sits in a mix of suburban and agricultural land upstream of Raleigh's intake, similar in kind to Jordan Lake's own mixed watershed.

What's actually the bigger issue in Raleigh's water if it's not pesticides? Based on Raleigh's own 2025 report, it's disinfection byproducts, detectable PFAS, and mineral hardness that builds up over time in fixtures, glassware, and your water heater. All three are addressed by an all-in-one system's carbon and softening stages, which is why we size systems around the full report, not just one contaminant category.

My water report gives one hardness number for the whole city — why would my house be different? A published figure is an average for finished water leaving the treatment plant, not a reading from your tap. Our own testing across Raleigh ZIP codes measures up to 3.7 grains per gallon in places, which is why an address-level test — free, and quick — settles it better than any citywide average.

Sources

• Raleigh Water — 2025 Consumer Confidence Report
• Raleigh Water — Perfluorinated Chemicals Data and Information
• EPA — National Primary Drinking Water Regulations

Related reading: Raleigh Water Hardness | Raleigh Water's Annual Chlorine Conversion | Does Activated Carbon Remove PFAS? | Why Does My Raleigh Water Taste Like Chlorine? | Pesticides & Herbicides in the Triangle's Tap Water