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Water Bill Assistance Available During COVID-19
We have an assistance program that may be able help you pay your utility bill: Utility Customer Assistance Program
Drinking Water Reports
Raleigh Water provides both annual and monthly drinking water quality reports. As required by the Safe Drinking Water Act, a Consumer Confidence Report is published annually and it provides an overview of your water quality data from the previous calendar year:
- Current Consumer Confidence Report
- Previous Year Confidence Report
- Annual Finished Water Quality Report
- Monthly water quality summaries: 2023 | 2024
En Español
This brochure has important information about the water quality that the City of Raleigh provides to you. If you have questions about water quality, call the Department of Public Utilities at 919-996-3245 during business hours.
Home Brewer's Corner
Home brewers have long known how important consistent and high quality water is to the brewing process and creating great beer. In fact, water comprises between 90 to 95 percent of beer by mass, which means you need great water to make great beer.
Beer brewing is both art and science, so it's critical to understand certain chemical properties of the water used in the brewing process. With this in mind, here are some common water quality characteristics which brewers evaluate before making a new batch:
|
Water Quality Characteristic |
Average Value in Raleigh Water |
|
Calcium |
6.01 mg / l |
|
Sodium |
33.00 mg / l |
|
Magnesium |
2.50 mg / l |
|
Potassium |
2.60 mg / l |
|
Hardness (as CaCO3) |
25.00 mg / l |
|
Hardness (grains per gallon) |
1.47 |
|
Alkalinity (as CaC03) |
27.8 mg / l |
|
pH (SU) |
8.42 |
|
Sulfate |
46.7 mg / l |
| Chloride | 12.4 mg / l |
For additional information on Raleigh's water characteristics and chemical properties, view the Annual Finished Water Quality Report .
Also keep in mind the City of Raleigh usually switches from using chloramine disinfectant to chlorine during the last week of March through the first week of April, which can result in higher than normal chlorine residual concentrations throughout the distribution system.
To experience the local breweries that are making good use of the City's high quality water see Visit Raleigh's Beer Trail .
Wastewater Reports
Raleigh Water is pleased to provide the Annual Wastewater Collection and Treatment System Report for fiscal year 2020-2021. This report provides information about the performance of the City's three (3) wastewater treatment plants: Neuse River Resource Recovery Facility, Smith Creek Resource Recovery Facility, and Little Creek Resource Recovery Facility in addition to the performance of the City's wastewater collection system for the period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021.
Wastewater systems have evolved considerably from early systems in the 1800s. Although the purpose has always been to collect human waste and transport it away from urban areas to protect human health, early systems merely transported the wastewater to a nearby stream, where it was discharged. Today, wastewater systems are not only expected to protect public health, but to protect the environment as well. In 1972, the US Congress passed landmark legislation entitled the “Clean Water Act” which ensured environmental protection as a performance benchmark for all wastewater systems. Long before the passage of this act, and every day since, the protection of public health and the environment have been the operating standard of the City of Raleigh's wastewater system.
En Español
This brochure contains important information about the City of Raleigh's sanitary sewer system. If you have questions about the system, please call the Public Services Department at 919-996-3245 during business hours.
Secondary and Cumulative Impacts Management Plan
The North Carolina (State) Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) requires projects that involve public funding and exceed certain minimum criteria include the preparation of an environmental document (environmental assessment [EA] or environmental impact statement [EIS]). These environmental documents must outline the direct, indirect (or secondary), and cumulative impacts to natural, cultural, and historical resources.
Typically, EAs or EISs are developed for a given infrastructure project. Each individual EA or EIS includes summaries of the direct, secondary, and cumulative impacts. Inefficiencies from developing documents in this manner include the following:
- Project Area
- Documentation Inefficiencies
- Review Inefficiencies
- Governing Board and Capital Planning
Proposed SCI Management Plan Process
- EAs or EISs for individual infrastructure projects will be developed to address direct impacts.
- Secondary and cumulative indirect impacts will not be addressed in each individual EA or EIS; these documents will reference the SCI Management Plan.
- The MOA addresses how the SCI Management Plan document should be used, its period of standing, and circumstances under which it must be updated more frequently.
These inefficiencies result in frustration for both the regulatory agencies and the regulated community. Thus, the City of Raleigh has developed a Secondary and Cumulative Impacts (SCI) Management Plan to address the secondary and cumulative impacts for planned infrastructure. Inclusion of all infrastructure plans in one document provides a holistic review of the City's growth projections for the service area and infrastructure being designed to support that growth. While EAs or EISs are developed for individual projects to examine the direct impacts of the projects, these documents will reference the SCI Management Plan for secondary and cumulative impacts, avoiding redundancy.
The City of Raleigh entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that outlines how the SCI Management Plan document will be used, the time period during which it can be cited in individual EAs and EISs, and under what circumstances it must be updated more frequently. In the process of developing the MOA, it was agreed that the Towns of Wendell and Zebulon did not have adequate management of SCI and that documentation of adequate SCI management would be developed through other on-going environmental documents. This information has been included in the MOA.
In 2006 the City of Raleigh finalized its last utility merger agreement with each of the towns in eastern Wake County. Under each individual agreement, the City of Raleigh has committed to providing safe and reliable water and wastewater services to each of these towns. Therefore the Study Area for the SCI Management Plan document consists of the existing land area of the City of Raleigh and the Towns of Garner, Knightdale, Rolesville, Wake Forest, Wendell, and Zebulon. The Study Area also includes each municipality's extra-territorial jurisdiction and urban service area. The Study Area covers approximately 428 square miles, all lying in the Neuse River Basin subdivided into 10 different watersheds.
View the City of Raleigh Secondary and Cumulative Impact Management Plan and the various sections of the plan and their respective contents:
SCI Management Plan
- Sampling and Monitoring Programs
- Raleigh Infrastructure
- Open space
- Wake County Mitigation Programs
- Agency Public Comments
- Transportation Planning
Stream Sampling and Monitoring Program Reports
Capital Improvement Program
Interlocal Agreements
Ordinances, plans, regulations, standards and supporting documentation