A plain-language breakdown of the chemicals, metals, and compounds detected in Durham's tap water — and what each one does inside your body.
Durham's water is treated — which means it won't give you cholera. But "treated" doesn't mean "clean." Water treatment removes biological threats. It was never designed to remove PFAS, pharmaceutical residues, or industrial chemicals. Those require completely different technology. Here's what's actually in your glass.
PFAS have been detected in Durham's treated drinking water. The city has been testing since 2018 and has publicly acknowledged the findings. A $15 million treatment upgrade has been announced — but completion isn't expected until 2029.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a family of over 12,000 synthetic chemicals invented in the 1940s for products like Teflon cookware, Scotchgard, and firefighting foam. They are nicknamed "forever chemicals" because the carbon-fluorine bond that makes them so useful — water-resistant, heat-resistant, frictionless — is also virtually indestructible. They do not break down in the environment. They do not break down in the human body.
PFAS accumulate. Every sip of unfiltered Durham tap water adds to the total body burden. Every year of unfiltered exposure increases risk. Children and pregnant women are at the highest risk because PFAS interfere with developmental processes at extremely low concentrations.
Kidney, testicular, bladder, breast, ovarian, prostate, thyroid, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma have all been linked to PFAS exposure in research studies.
PFAS cross the placental barrier and enter breast milk. In children, they're associated with lower birth weight, behavioral issues, and reduced vaccine effectiveness.
PFAS mimic hormones in the body. Linked to thyroid disease, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, and early puberty in girls.
PFAS reduce the effectiveness of vaccines and suppress immune response. Children with high PFAS exposure show significantly lower antibody levels after vaccination.
Sources: EPA, NRDC, National Toxicology Program, EWG Tap Water Database
Lead doesn't come from Durham's water source. It comes from your home's plumbing. Lead service lines, lead solder, and brass fixtures in homes built before 1986 can leach lead directly into your drinking water as it passes through. If your home was built before 1986, you may have lead in your drinking water — and you'd never know by taste, smell, or sight.
Lead causes permanent neurological damage. Even tiny amounts of lead exposure during early childhood are associated with lower IQ, behavioral problems, learning disabilities, and lifelong developmental harm. The effects are irreversible.
Durham has been working to identify and replace lead service lines, but the process takes years and the responsibility for in-home plumbing rests with homeowners. A whole-home or point-of-use filter certified for lead removal (NSF/ANSI 53 or 58) is the only reliable protection at the tap.
Here's the painful irony: the chemicals used to make Durham's water safe to drink — chlorine and chloramines — react with naturally occurring organic matter in the water to create a new class of harmful chemicals called disinfection byproducts (DBPs).
The two most common types are trihalomethanes (TTHMs) and haloacetic acids (HAA5). Both have been found in Durham's water at levels that have been tracked and reported in the city's annual Consumer Confidence Report. Both are classified as probable human carcinogens by the EPA.
The cruel math: Without chlorine, you'd get cholera. With chlorine, you get cancer-linked byproducts. The solution isn't no treatment — it's point-of-use filtration that removes the chlorine and its byproducts after treatment, at your tap.
Long-term exposure to elevated TTHMs and HAA5 has been linked to increased risk of bladder cancer, colon cancer, and rectal cancer. For pregnant women, high DBP exposure has been associated with miscarriage, low birth weight, and neural tube defects.
Every glass of Durham tap water contains a residual level of chlorine or chloramine — by design. The EPA requires it to prevent bacterial regrowth in distribution pipes. At the levels in Durham's water, it won't make you acutely sick. But chronic, daily exposure is a different story.
Your gut microbiome is an ecosystem of trillions of bacteria that regulate immunity, mental health, inflammation, metabolism, and more. Chlorine doesn't distinguish between the bacteria in your tap water and the bacteria in your gut — it kills both. Daily exposure may be silently disrupting the very foundation of your health.
Additionally, chlorine is absorbed through your skin in the shower — often at higher rates than through drinking. A shower filter can be as important as a drinking water filter, particularly for people with sensitive skin, respiratory conditions, or autoimmune issues.
The first step is a free in-home water test — so you know exactly what you're dealing with in your specific home. Then we help you decide what protection makes sense for your family and your budget.
Book a free, no-pressure water consultation with our Durham team. We'll test your home's water and walk you through exactly what we find.
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