WHAT’S BEYOND THE TAP

North Carolina · water system · PWSID NC0392045

Town of Apex: drinking water record

One thing here needs attention.

One more thing is worth knowing, and one could not be determined from the record.

What EPA and state records show about this community water system — compliance, PFAS testing, lead sampling, and where its water comes from. Serving about 83,001 people in Wake County.

83,001people served
0health-based violations since 2021
0without recorded resolution
1administrative (paperwork) records

What the records flag

Needs attention

This system buys water from CARY, TOWN OF, which has 1 unresolved health-based violation

Purchased water is treated by the seller before it arrives, so the seller's compliance record travels with the water it sells.

Water purchased from
CARY, TOWN OF
Seller's unresolved health-based
1

Official record for your water system · U.S. EPA — Safe Drinking Water Act compliance records · retrieved 2026-08-16 · source

Worth knowing

4 of 29 PFAS compounds detected, none above a federal limit

Most PFAS compounds tested have no federal drinking-water limit — detection is not the same as exceeding a standard.

Measured in your water system · U.S. EPA — UCMR5 nationwide PFAS monitoring · retrieved 2026-08-15 · source

No issues on record

No health-based violations on record since 2021

Records can lag by up to a quarter, and they don't cover your home's own plumbing.

Official record for your water system · U.S. EPA — Safe Drinking Water Act compliance records · retrieved 2026-08-16 · source

Lead & copper sampling

Lead: latest 90th-percentile result 0 ppb — below the 10 ppb action level (sampled 2025-12-31, 4 results in the 10-year window).

The 90th-percentile result means 9 out of 10 sampled homes were at or below this level. It measures the water system's corrosion control — it cannot tell you whether your own home's plumbing adds lead. Results older than 10 years, future-dated compliance periods, and physically implausible values are excluded.

PFAS testing

29 PFAS compounds tested under EPA's UCMR5 program; 4 detected.

UCMR5 sampling (2023–2026) at entry points to the distribution system. 'Not detected' means below the reporting limit (~4 ppt for PFOA/PFOS), not zero. A result above a future MCL is not a violation today — compliance deadlines are 2029 (2031 extension proposed). These results describe treated water leaving the plant — not the river or lake this system draws from.

Where the water comes from

Surface water.

Buys water from Town of Cary — which has 1 unresolved health-based violation on record. Purchased water is treated by the seller, so the seller's record travels with it.

Also holds emergency-only connections (Harnett Regional Water) — backup interconnections, not routine supply.

What the record doesn’t establish

  • Whether your home's own plumbing adds lead or copper — no dataset covers indoor pipes.

Common questions

Does Town of Apex have drinking water violations?

No health-based violations on record since 2021. Records can lag by up to a quarter, and they don't cover building plumbing.

Has Town of Apex been tested for PFAS?

Yes — 29 PFAS compounds under EPA's UCMR5 program, with 4 detected. Samples are taken at entry points to the distribution system — treated water, not source water.

How many people does Town of Apex serve?

EPA records list about 83,001 people served in Wake. Service-area boundaries have known errors — a water bill is the ground truth for any single address.

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

Search any address this system serves for the full report — the waters around it, what's permitted upstream, and every term explained.

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