Water Filtration & Reverse Osmosis in Wilmington, NC

At much lower levels than before, but not zero — and this is the question we get asked most in Wilmington. After the 2017 revelations about Chemours discharging GenX into the Cape Fear River, CFPUA built deep-bed granular activated carbon filtration at the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant, an investment reported at roughly $91 million including ongoing carbon replacement and testing. CFPUA's 2025 Drinking Water Quality Report puts the annual average for GenX at 0.10 parts per trillion and PFOA at 0.03 ppt. That is real progress. PFAS still reach the tap in trace amounts, though, they build up in the body rather than breaking down, and plant carbon only works as long as it is replaced on schedule. Homes on private wells get none of that treatment. An under-sink reverse osmosis system removes 95–99% of PFAS at the tap you drink from, as a final barrier you control.

Many Wilmington-area homes do. CFPUA's 2025 sampling on the Wrightsville Beach groundwater system shows hardness as high as 330 ppm with sodium up to 166 ppm, which is exactly what a water softener is built for. Private wells across New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick counties also commonly run hard with iron and manganese. Our free in-home test measures your hardness on the spot and we match the softener or conditioner to it.

CFPUA water meets every federal standard. The item worth understanding is disinfection byproducts. Because the Cape Fear River carries pathogens that must be inactivated, Sweeney uses ozone, UV and chlorine, and chlorine reacting with natural organic matter produces trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids. CFPUA's 2025 report shows a highest locational running annual average of 30.6 ppb for TTHM and 22.7 ppb for HAA5, against federal limits of 80 and 60 ppb respectively. Legal, and well within limits — but individual sampling sites ranged as high as 48.6 ppb for TTHM, and these are the compounds most homeowners are actually tasting and smelling. Whole-home carbon filtration removes them at every tap, and reverse osmosis adds a second barrier for drinking water.

Then none of the above applies to you, and your situation is genuinely more serious. CFPUA's carbon filters protect CFPUA customers only. Private wells in New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick counties receive no treatment at all, and portions of the region sit over groundwater affected by the Chemours Fayetteville Works plume. Well water in the Cape Fear region can also carry iron, manganese, hardness and bacteria that municipal customers never deal with. There is no responsible way to specify a system for a well without testing it first — anyone who quotes you a package over the phone for a well is guessing. We bring a kit, run an on-site analysis, and show you the results before recommending anything. For confirmed PFAS in well water, reverse osmosis is the proven technology.

For a typical CFPUA-served Wilmington home, we start with a whole-home carbon filter paired with an under-sink reverse osmosis system, or our Complete Home System for whole-home coverage in a single install. The carbon handles chlorine and its byproducts at every tap, which is where essentially all of Wilmington's remaining flagged compounds sit. The RO gives you a second barrier at the kitchen sink for drinking and cooking water and covers the trace compounds carbon doesn't. If budget forces a single starting point, start with the RO. Homes on the Wrightsville Beach system should add a softener, and homes on private wells start with a free test so we can match the system to the water. Most installations complete in a single visit of about 3 to 5 hours, and every system carries a lifetime warranty with lifetime phone support.