Confusion after utility reports high uranium in Knightdale's water ... again

Four months after getting a notice about high levels of uranium in the drinking water, neighbors in Knightdale are on edge after receiving a letter reporting high uranium levels again.

Carolina Water Service is required to update customers after the incident earlier this year, and the letter reports annual and quarterly averages of uranium testing. The utility says the most recent tests show the uranium levels are within a safe range.

Like many of her neighbors in Ashley Hills North, Taylor Hines has brought water in from the store to cook with and drink since high levels of uranium were found in the tap water in February 2026.

"I feel like I have to be on my toes as far as the water quality in this area and check it myself, because we’re only updated quarterly," she said.

A letter last week from Carolina Water Service North Carolina stated the annual average level for the uranium in the water was 33.1 pCi per liter for Gross Alpha. The utility told WRAL the maximum containment level is 20.1 pCi per liter. It says the latest test shows uranium at 6.7 pCi per liter.

“This average incorporates prior results and, as newer lower results are factored in, will continue to decrease over the coming months following the repair," said Jessica Dey, CWSNC spokesperson.

So how did they get the uranium levels down? Carolina Water says they used filtration media, which is resin that targets elements like uranium and pulls them out of the water. They say they’ve also changed the controls at Well 3, where the high uranium levels were first detected.

The letter says there is nothing Hines needs to do and that the water is safe.

"Why are we not keeping the well off until the quarterly average, where we're supposed to be at, is where we are at? Why are we turning on the well before that? Even if it says we're okay right now, what happens in a couple of weeks," Hines said.

The utility says it will continue to report to customers quarterly until the containment is within regulatory thresh-holds.