How To Read The High Point Water Quality Report

Where High Point's Water Comes From

The city's water comes from a 62-square-mile watershed in the headwaters of the Cape Fear River system, collected in Oak Hollow Lake and Arnold Koonce City Lake. Most of it is pumped from City Lake and treated at the Ward Water Plant. The city also receives treated water from the Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority.

The report's source water assessment rated both lakes as higher susceptibility in September 2020. The report notes that this rating describes potential for contamination, not the quality of water delivered to homes.

The Number That Matters Most For Plumbing

Hardness readings in the city's annual reports from 2016 through 2019 ran roughly 30 to 60 mg/L. One grain per gallon is about 17 mg/L, so that is roughly 2 to 3.5 grains, which counts as soft. Soft water leaves little scale on heaters and fixtures.

That is why a salt-based softener on city water is rarely needed. See water softener installation and repair for when one is justified, such as on a private well.

Why The Water At Your Tap Can Differ From The Report

The report describes water as it leaves the system. Older houses can add lead from old solder or fixtures, rust from galvanized lines and metals from corroding pipe. Houses built before the 1986 lead ban on solder and brass fixtures are the usual concern, which covers much of the Uptown Suburbs and mill-village housing.

If you want to reduce taste or specific contaminants, see water filtration installation. Look for filters certified to NSF/ANSI standards for what you want to reduce. If old pipes are the source, a full repipe project removes it.

Other Utilities In The Area

Not every address uses High Point water. Jamestown runs its own municipal system, and rural properties use wells. Read the report for your own utility, and test a private well.

Units, Limits And What They Mean

Test tables use milligrams per liter, equal to parts per million, and micrograms per liter, equal to parts per billion. A maximum contaminant level is the legal limit for a substance, and an action level is a threshold that triggers treatment steps. Some results are annual averages and others are single readings.

Finding a substance in a table does not mean the limit was exceeded. Compare the detected level with the limit in the same row. If you are unsure how to interpret a result, the water utility's contact in the report can explain it.

Private Wells Do Not Appear In The Report

The city report covers the city's system. A private well is the owner's responsibility, and its quality is only known by testing. Local health departments can explain how to collect a sample and which tests are worth doing, including bacteria and, in some areas, other contaminants.

Test a well when you buy a house, after flooding or repairs, and on a regular schedule. Keep the lab results, since they matter when you sell.

Questions To Ask The Water Utility

If something in the report is unclear, ask the utility directly. Good questions include which source supplies your neighborhood, whether the water is blended, what disinfectant is used and how hardness is measured. Ask whether any construction or main flushing is planned near you, since that can affect color for a day or two.

You can also ask about service line materials, since federal rules required utilities to inventory them by October 2024. Knowing your line's material is useful if you are weighing filtration or repiping.

Using The Report Well

Read the report once a year, when it is published. Note the hardness, the treatment steps and anything that changed. If you have questions, contact the utility using the details in the report.

Pair the report with what you can see and taste at home. If the water seems different from the report, check your own plumbing, filters and fixtures first, and then call the utility if the problem is not inside your house.

Water Quality Report Questions