Water Quality

​Source Water Protection


Charlotte Water provides an average of 108 million gallons of treated drinking water to over one million people. Our drinking water source is Mountain Island Lake and Lake Norman which are both parts of the Catawba-Wateree River Basin.

Charlotte Water staff partner with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services to sample source waters Lake Norman and Mountain Island Lake.  Multiple locations from both sources are monitored. Sample results and monitoring techniques can be found on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services website.

​Help Protect Your Drinking Water Source

​The Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group (CWWMG) which Charlotte Water is an active member of is a member organization for all large water users on the Catawba-Wateree River Basin.

CWWMG members meet regularly to formulate strategies and projects to help understand and address the Basin's water challenges. This includes monitoring the river basin, assessing conservation locations for maximum benefit to the water supply, and working together to ensure that the region has a lasting and high-quality water supply for years to come. These recommendations are then implemented when feasible by water users and related partners across the region.

Visit the CWWMG website for project results.

The North Carolina Division of Water Resource, Public Water Supply Section is responsible for implementing the Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) for all public drinking water supplies in the state. A source water assessment is a qualitative evaluation of the potential of a drinking water source to become contaminated by the identified potential contaminant sources (PCS) within the delineated area. PCS includes permitted industries, urban stormwater runoff, and other non-point source contamination sources like agriculture and land clearing activities.  (from ncwater.org)

The Mountain Island Lake SWAP

Additional Partners and Organizations Working to Protect Local Source Waters