County water report

Crittenden County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Crittenden County, Arkansas.

Water grade

Water score

40.2

State rank

#36

of 75

Health violations

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

16.2%

339 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

1,581 recent measurements

Live streamflow

No gauge

Primary USGS station not mapped

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Crittenden County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

Score: 40.2 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

16% impaired

339 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

No gauge

Primary USGS gauge not mapped

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

1,581 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

40.2/100

Health violations

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

32.0

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

Crittenden County has 1 facility in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #1852 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSI

24.1

0-100 index

Facility count

0.0 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

-9.8

Compared with US county median

Mapped facilities

GROOT, LLC.
WEST MEMPHIS
EPA ECHO

See the Crittenden County data-center report Review methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

Estimate daily water use for a hypothetical facility in Crittenden County.

Facility size: 100 MW

1 MW1,000 MW

Cooling type

Utilization: 70%

40%100%

799K gallons/dayHigh Impact

Your facility would use 385.2% of this county's industrial water baseline. Verify water rights and long-term drought projections before committing.

385.2% of county industrial baseline

Based on USGS 2020 water-use data and EPA-standard cooling intensity constants. Not a substitute for site-specific water rights analysis.

Editorial analysis

Understanding Crittenden County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Crittenden County's water systems carry a failing grade, scoring 40.2 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 15 health-based violations — a pattern that public water utilities are required to disclose and correct.

Watershed Conditions

EPA ATTAINS

Under the Clean Water Act §303(d), EPA ATTAINS tracks whether waterways meet quality standards for drinking, recreation, and aquatic life (reporting cycle: 2022). A notable 16.2% of assessed waterways carry an impairment designation (55 of 339 water bodies) across Crittenden County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are turbidity - base flows and dissolved oxygen - critical. Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Crittenden County has limited coverage with 8 active monitoring sites with 1,581 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include nutrient and physical. More monitoring sites generally indicate greater scientific attention to local water conditions — and provide the baseline data that regulators use to set future impairment listings.

Editorial advisory

What the data suggests for Crittenden County

Water Verdict

Crittenden County, Arkansas receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of F and a score of 40.2 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking. Separately, EPA ATTAINS assessments cover 339 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 16.2% listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act — a source-water measure that is tracked independently of tap-water compliance.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Crittenden County, Arkansas show 15 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 32.0 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. For independent context, 1,581 water-quality monitoring results have been recorded across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

Drinking-water compliance in Crittenden County is rated Grade F, reflecting significant health-based violations in the recent reporting period. Crittenden County's drinking-water compliance score is 40.2 out of 100. The violation rate for Crittenden County is 32.0 per 100,000 people served. An NSF 53 or NSF 58-certified filter is recommended for drinking and cooking water. Check the Consumer Confidence Report from your utility to identify the specific contaminants and required corrective actions — utilities are legally required to notify customers of violations. Turbidity - Base Flows is the leading impairment cause in Crittenden County's watershed. There are 8 active water-quality monitoring sites in Crittenden County.

Regional Context

Crittenden County has poorer water quality than the average county in Arkansas. Its water score is 7.4 points lower than the state average, suggesting more challenges with contamination control or infrastructure than neighboring counties.

Advisory text summarizes county-level public records and is not a replacement for your utility's current Consumer Confidence Report or direct local notices.

Contaminants & Resources

Key issues flagged in Crittenden County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

1
High turbidity
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment
2
Dissolved Oxygen - Critical
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment
3
Dissolved Oxygen - Primary
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Crittenden County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Crittenden County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Crittenden County

Consumer Confidence Reports (AR)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Arkansas

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

16.2%

55 of 339 assessed

Some impairment

Top Impairment Causes

1
TURBIDITY - BASE FLOWS
2
DISSOLVED OXYGEN - CRITICAL
3
DISSOLVED OXYGEN - PRIMARY

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Impairment is determined under the Clean Water Act §303(d): a water body is impaired when it fails to meet state-defined quality standards for designated uses (drinking, recreation, aquatic life). Assessment coverage varies by state; counties without assessed water bodies are not shown.

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

1.6K

1,581 total readings

Most Measured

Nutrient
Physical
Inorganics, Major, Non-metals

Categories measured most frequently

Data from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), aggregating monitoring records from federal, state, and tribal sources. Each measurement represents a single sample analyzed for a specific characteristic (e.g., E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen).

Free tool

Estimate Your Water Costs

Water Cost Estimate

Household size

3 people · ~225 gal/day

Filter type

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Crittenden County:C — Moderate

Some violations or watershed impairment detected.

Estimates use the national average residential water rate ($0.0068/gal, EPA/AWWA 2023) and EPA WaterSense per-person consumption baseline (75 gal/person/day). Actual bills vary by utility, usage tier, and local infrastructure fees. For informational purposes only.

Try the full calculator →

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Crittenden County, Arkansas?

Crittenden County, Arkansas has a drinking-water quality grade of F with a score of 40.2/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 15 health-based drinking water violations over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.

Are there any water violations in Crittenden County?

Crittenden County has 15 health-based drinking water violations recorded by the EPA over the past 5 years. Health-based violations indicate instances where contaminant levels exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Violations may have been resolved — check with your local water utility for current status.

How healthy are the watersheds in Crittenden County?

EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 16.2% of Crittenden County's 339 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (55 impaired). The top reported causes are TURBIDITY - BASE FLOWS, DISSOLVED OXYGEN - CRITICAL, DISSOLVED OXYGEN - PRIMARY. Impairment means the water body fails to meet state quality standards for at least one designated use — drinking water source, recreation, aquatic life, or fish consumption. Note: watershed impairment doesn't always translate to tap-water issues; treatment plants can remove most regulated contaminants.

How much water-quality monitoring happens in Crittenden County?

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 1,581 measurements from 8 monitoring sites in Crittenden County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Nutrient, Physical, Inorganics, Major, Non-metals. Each measurement is a single sample analyzed for one characteristic (E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, etc.). High monitoring density means more scientific evidence behind any reported signal — it does not by itself indicate water quality.

How does Crittenden County water compare to the Arkansas average?

Crittenden County's SDWIS water quality score of 40.2/100 is lower than the Arkansas state average of 47.6. The average water quality grade across Arkansas is D, based on data from 75 counties with available SDWIS data.

Is tap water safe to drink in Crittenden County?

Based on EPA SDWIS data, Crittenden County has a water quality grade of F (40.2/100). This indicates below-average compliance with significant violations. Residents may want to consider home water filtration or independent testing. The grade speaks to the public water system, not the watershed — for watershed-level concerns, see the Watershed Health zone. For the most up-to-date information, contact your local water utility or review your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).

Why does Crittenden County have so many water violations?

Crittenden County has 15 health-based drinking water violations on record from the EPA SDWIS database. A higher violation count can result from aging infrastructure, underfunded water utilities, agricultural runoff contamination, or industrial pollution. Counties with more water systems may also see more violations simply due to scale. Residents concerned about water quality should consider independent water testing and home filtration systems.

How does Crittenden County rank for water quality in Arkansas?

Crittenden County ranks #36 out of 75 counties in Arkansas by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 40.2/100, it falls in the middle third of counties statewide. The ranking reflects EPA SDWIS compliance only — not watershed impairment, monitoring density, or streamflow, which are tracked separately on this page.

Counties with Similar Water Quality

Benton County

Arkansas

40.3

Water score

Lonoke County

Arkansas

39.8

Water score

Crawford County

Arkansas

38.8

Water score

Data Sources

Drinking-water compliance data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) via the ECHO enforcement database. Scores reflect compliance history and health-based violation counts.

Watershed health and impaired-waterway data from the EPA ATTAINS Clean Water Act §303(d) assessments, state-reported and EPA-finalized.

Water-quality monitoring counts from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), federated USGS, EPA, and state agency sampling records over a rolling 5-year window.

Disclaimer: This data is informational only. It is not health, legal, or professional advice. For concerns about your specific water supply, contact your local water utility.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated May 14, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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