Public water system · NC0111010

Active

Asheville City of

At a glance

City of Asheville (PWSID NC0111010) is an active community water system in Buncombe County, North Carolina. It reports serving 157,431 people through 61,981 service connections. Its primary water source is surface water, and EPA lists it as owned by a local government. EPA's records list 8 violations for this system; 3 are health-based, and the most recent began in October 2025.

Dataset updated October 2026 . Source: EPA SDWIS/ECHO public records.

Population served

157,431

Service connections

61,981

Primary source

Surface water

System type

CWS

Community water system

System record

PWSIDNC0111010

System typeCommunity water system

Activity statusActive

Population served157,431

Service connections61,981

Primary water sourceSurface water

Owner typeLocal government

Primacy agencyNC state drinking water program

City servedAsheville

StateNorth Carolina

ZIP—

CountyBuncombe County

How does City of Asheville compare with other water systems in Buncombe County?

By EPA's size categories, City of Asheville is a very large system (more than 100,000 people). Buncombe County has 105 active public water systems, and City of Asheville is the largest of them by population served. Its population served is about 80 times the county average of 1,956 people per system, and accounts for 77% of the 205,425 people reported by systems filed under the county. Across North Carolina, the 5,087 active systems average 1,971 people each. Nationally, the average active community water system reports serving 6,703 people, so City of Asheville is about 23 times that figure.

What does “community water system” mean?

A community water system serves at least 15 connections used by year-round residents, or regularly serves at least 25 year-round residents. Homes, apartments and mobile-home parks are served by these. North Carolina has 2,031 active community water systems, 40% of the state's 5,087 active systems. Surface water means the system draws its water from rivers, lakes, streams or reservoirs. 132 North Carolina systems (2.6%) list surface water as their primary source.

Who owns and regulates City of Asheville?

EPA lists City of Asheville as owned by a local government. The NC state drinking water program is its primacy agency, the regulator with primary enforcement responsibility for the system under the Safe Drinking Water Act. 9 of the 105 active systems in Buncombe County (8.6%) are also owned by a local government.

Does City of Asheville have drinking water violations?

EPA's records list 8 violations for this system; 3 are health-based, and the most recent began in October 2025. The violations listed here began between July 1993 and October 2025. By type: 4 monitoring and reporting, 3 required treatment not met and 1 public notice, recordkeeping or other. The contaminant or rule involved most often is Surface Water Treatment Rule (3 of them). EPA lists 7 as resolved and 1 as archived. Resolved means at least one resolving action is on record: the system returned to compliance, the rule no longer applies, or no further action was needed. Archived means the violation was not marked resolved but is more than five years past the end of the noncompliance period, so it no longer counts toward current compliance status.

Began	Violation	Contaminant or rule	Health-based	Status
2025-10-01	Monitoring and reportingLead Consumer Notice · code 66	Lead and Copper Rulecode 5000	No	Resolved
2024-10-01	Required treatment not metTreatment Technique (SWTR and GWR) · code 41	Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rulecode 0800	Yes	Resolved
2021-04-01	Monitoring and reportingMonitoring and Reporting (DBP) · code 27	Carbon, totalcode 2920	No	Resolved
2019-07-01	Public notice, recordkeeping or otherConsumer Confidence Report Complete Failure to Report · code 71	Consumer Confidence Rulecode 7000	No	Resolved
2014-01-01	Monitoring and reportingMonitoring of Treatment (SWTR-Filter) · code 36	Surface Water Treatment Rulecode 0200	No	Resolved
2009-01-02	Monitoring and reportingFailure Submit IDSE/Subpart V Plan Rpt · code 35	Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rulecode 0600	No	Resolved
1993-07-01	Required treatment not metTreatment Technique (SWTR and GWR) · code 41	Surface Water Treatment Rulecode 0200	Yes	Resolved
1993-07-01	Required treatment not metTreatment Technique (SWTR and GWR) · code 41	Surface Water Treatment Rulecode 0200	Yes	Archived

All 8 violations in EPA's records, newest first.Labels and codes come from EPA's SDWIS reference tables. A monitoring or reporting violation means a required test or report was missed or late; it does not by itself mean a contaminant was found. "Health-based" marks violations of a legal limit or required treatment.

City of Asheville: frequently asked questions

Who runs City of Asheville?

City of Asheville (PWSID NC0111010) is a community water system owned by a local government. It is regulated by the NC state drinking water program.

How many people does City of Asheville serve?

City of Asheville reports serving 157,431 people through 61,981 service connections in Buncombe County, North Carolina.

Where does City of Asheville get its water?

EPA SDWIS lists this system's primary water source as surface water. Surface water means the system draws its water from rivers, lakes, streams or reservoirs.

Does City of Asheville have any drinking water violations?

EPA's records list 8 violations for this system; 3 are health-based, and the most recent began in October 2025. A monitoring or reporting violation means a required test or report was missed or late; it does not by itself mean a contaminant was found.

Is City of Asheville's water safe to drink?

AquaCensus shows EPA compliance records, not current water test results, so it cannot say whether the water is safe at a given moment. EPA's records list 8 violations for this system; 3 are health-based, and the most recent began in October 2025. For current results, consult the system's annual water quality report, EPA ECHO, or the NC state drinking water program.

Where can I find City of Asheville's water quality report?

As a community water system, City of Asheville must deliver an annual water quality report, called a Consumer Confidence Report, to its customers by July 1 each year, covering the previous calendar year. The system can provide a copy on request.

Other water systems in Buncombe County

Water system	County	Population served	Type	Source
Black Mountain, Town of	Buncombe	11,976	Community	Purchased surface water
Woodfin Sanitary Water and Sewer	Buncombe	10,122	Community	Surface water
Weaverville, Town of	Buncombe	8,359	Community	Surface water
Biltmore Forest, Town of	Buncombe	1,356	Community	Purchased surface water
Royal Gorge Water Utility	Buncombe	950	Community	Groundwater
Biltmore Estates	Buncombe	857	Non-transient non-community	Purchased surface water

Working with water-system records? Pro adds alerts, change history and CSV export ($49/mo); Enterprise adds full national files, the API and an MCP server for AI tools.

About this data

Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) and SDWA violation records, via EPA ECHO, as published October 1, 2026 — AquaCensus refreshes it quarterly. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.

Cite as: AquaCensus, “Asheville City of, PWSID NC0111010, North Carolina”, https://aquacensus.com/water-systems/north-carolina/asheville-city-of-nc0111010 (data as of October 1, 2026).