WHAT’S BEYOND THE TAP

North Carolina · county

Water quality in Randolph County, North Carolina

Two things here need attention.

Two things could not be determined from the record.

Public records for Randolph County cover 89 named waterways across 38 sub-watersheds, and 96 active water systems serving about 61,038 people. Below is what those records establish — and what they don't.

89waterways on record
7not considered safe for swimming
6under fish-consumption advisories
9never assessed at all
96water systems
10with an unresolved health-based violation

What the records flag

Needs attention

Hamby Creek is not considered safe for swimming

A state determination under the Clean Water Act. This is one of several assessed waterways in the area you searched — search a street address to see which waters connect to you.

Listed cause
FECAL COLIFORM
Listed cause
COPPER

Official determination, waterway near you · U.S. EPA / state agency — ATTAINS assessed waters

Needs attention

Fish from 6 nearby waterways are under consumption advisories

The state has determined this water doesn't meet standards for eating the fish caught in it. It's close to you, but your water doesn't flow from it.

Listed cause
PCBS - FISH CONSUMPTION ADVISORY
Listed cause
PH, HIGH

Official determination, waterway near you · U.S. EPA / state agency — ATTAINS assessed waters

Rivers, creeks & lakes

WaterwaySwimmingEating the fishListed causes
Hamby CreekNot considered safeNot assessedFECAL COLIFORM, COPPER
Rich ForkNot considered safeNot assessedFECAL COLIFORM, FISH BIOASSESSMENTS
Richland CreekNot considered safeNot assessedFECAL COLIFORM, FISH BIOASSESSMENTS
YADKIN RIVER (including Tuckertown Lake, Badin Lake)Not assessedNot considered safePCBS - FISH CONSUMPTION ADVISORY, PH, HIGH
Abbotts CreekOn record, no conclusionNot assessedFISH BIOASSESSMENTS, TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS (TSS)
Back Creek (Back Creek Lake)Not assessedNot assessedCHLOROPHYLL-A - AQUATIC LIFE USE SUPPORT
Brush CreekNot assessedNot assessedBENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES BIOASSESSMENTS
DEEP RIVERMeets the standardNot assessedCHLOROPHYLL-A - AQUATIC LIFE USE SUPPORT, COPPER
Haskett CreekOn record, no conclusionNot assessedBENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES BIOASSESSMENTS, COPPER
Hickory CreekNot assessedNot assessedBENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES BIOASSESSMENTS
Hunts ForkNot assessedNot assessedBENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES BIOASSESSMENTS
Muddy CreekNot considered safeNot assessedFECAL COLIFORM

Showing 12 of 89 waterways on record — the full report has all of them. "Not considered safe" is a state determination under the Clean Water Act, not a measurement taken today. "Not assessed" means unknown — never clean.

Drinking water systems

SystemServesHealth-based violations since 2021Without recorded resolution
City of Asheboro27,81911
City of Archdale12,70000
City of Randleman4,63100
Town of Liberty2,65511
Seagrove-Ulah Metro Water Dist2,41300
Town of Ramseur1,79044
Town of Franklinville1,40000
Northeastern Randolph Mid SCH62900
Beulah Baptist Church50000
Richland Village MHP38900
Hidden Forest MHP38000
Farmer Elementary School35100

Showing the 12 largest of 96 active systems serving the county. Health-based violations are shown alone — administrative (paperwork) records are counted separately and never added in, because most violation records are paperwork.

What the record doesn’t establish

  • 9 nearby waterways have never been assessed — their condition is unknown.
  • Whether your home's own plumbing adds lead or copper — no dataset covers indoor pipes.

Common questions

Is tap water safe to drink in Randolph County?

No public dataset can establish that any tap is safe or unsafe — records have gaps, lag by up to a quarter, and say nothing about a building's own plumbing or private wells.

What the records do show: 96 active water systems serve Randolph County. 10 of them currently have an unresolved health-based violation on record. Health-based violations are counted separately from paperwork violations, which make up most records.

Which waterways in Randolph County are not considered safe for swimming?

State assessments under the Clean Water Act list Hamby Creek, Rich Fork, Richland Creek, Muddy Creek, Abbotts Creek Arm of High Rock Lake and 2 more as not supporting recreation. That is an official determination about the waterway, not a measurement taken today.

67 of the county's waterways on record have never been assessed for swimming — their condition is unknown.

How current is this data?

Datasets refresh on their agencies' cycles — EPA drinking-water records quarterly, state waterway assessments roughly every two years. The sources table on this page lists the version and retrieval date of every dataset used.

Sources

DatasetAgency versionRetrieved
EPA/state ATTAINS waterway assessmentsATTAINS_Assessment ArcGIS snapshot (gispub.epa.gov)2026-08-15
ATTAINS waterway geometryATTAINS_Assessment ArcGIS lines + areas (gispub.epa.gov)2026-08-16
Census TIGER county boundariesCensus TIGERweb Counties (current vintage)2026-08-16
NC DEQ PFAS monitoringNC DEQ DWR EQuIS export, samples through 2025-07-292026-08-17
Census TIGER place boundariesCensus TIGERweb Places (Incorporated + CDP, current vintage)2026-08-16
EPA water system service areasEPA PWS Service Areas v3 (hosted layer, item 80c6912ef14f46e480f5afd807767b4b)2026-08-15
EPA Safe Drinking Water Act compliance recordsECHO SDWA quarterly bulk download2026-08-16
EPA standards & benchmarks2026-08 curation2026-08-15
EPA UCMR5 PFAS monitoringUCMR5 occurrence data (collections through 2025-12-10)2026-08-15
USGS watershed boundariesUSGS WBD via National Map MapServer2026-08-15

Records lag their agencies' refresh cycles — a recent change may not appear yet. Absence from a dataset is absence of a record, never evidence that water is clean.

Go deeper

The interactive report adds the map, monitoring-station samples, permitted operations in connected watersheds, and plain-language explanations of every term.

See the full Randolph County report