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County water report

Okeechobee County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Okeechobee County, Florida.

Water grade

C

Water score

52.7

State rank

#42

of 66

Health violations

3

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

42.1%

1,350 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

157

74,831 recent measurements

Live streamflow

No gauge

TAYLOR CREEK AT GRASSY ISLAND NR OKEECHOBEE, FL

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Okeechobee County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

C

Score: 52.7 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

3

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

42% impaired

1,350 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

No gauge

TAYLOR CREEK AT GRASSY ISLAND NR OKEECHOBEE, FL

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

157

74,831 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

C

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

52.7/100

Health violations

3

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

12.9

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Okeechobee County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Okeechobee County's drinking water earned a C grade, scoring 52.7 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 3 health-based violations — a small cluster that warrants attention.

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 substantial 42.1% of assessed waterways are impaired (569 of 1,350 water bodies) across Okeechobee County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are mercury in fish tissue and dissolved oxygen. 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. Okeechobee County has extensive coverage with 157 active monitoring sites with 74,831 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and nutrient. 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 Okeechobee County

Water Verdict

Okeechobee County, Florida receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of C and a score of 52.7 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 1,350 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 42.1% 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 Okeechobee County, Florida show 3 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 12.9 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. This compliance record sits alongside an unusually deep monitoring archive: 74,831 water-quality results have been logged across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Okeechobee County meets baseline standards but the compliance record shows room for improvement, with a Grade C rating. Okeechobee County's drinking-water compliance score is 52.7 out of 100. The violation rate for Okeechobee County is 12.9 per 100,000 people served. Residents who are immunocompromised, pregnant, or have young children may benefit from using an NSF 53-certified filter. Contacting your local utility for the current Consumer Confidence Report will confirm which specific violations were recorded and whether they have been resolved. Mercury in Fish Tissue is the leading impairment cause in Okeechobee County's watershed. With 157 active water-quality monitoring sites in Okeechobee County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the TAYLOR CREEK gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Okeechobee County has water quality close to the average county in Florida. Its water score is within 3.3 points of the state average, meaning its overall water system performance is broadly representative of Florida as a whole.

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 Okeechobee County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Mercury (fish tissue)

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 2

    Low dissolved oxygen

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 3

    Phosphorus (excess nutrients)

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Okeechobee County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Okeechobee County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Okeechobee County

Consumer Confidence Reports (FL)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Florida

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

42.1%

569 of 1,350 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    MERCURY IN FISH TISSUE

  • 2

    DISSOLVED OXYGEN

  • 3

    PHOSPHORUS, TOTAL

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

157

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

75K

74,831 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Nutrient
  • Cyanotoxins, Phytotoxins

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

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Water Cost Estimate

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Okeechobee 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.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Okeechobee County, Florida?
Okeechobee County, Florida has a drinking-water quality grade of C with a score of 52.7/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 3 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 Okeechobee County?
Okeechobee County has 3 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 Okeechobee County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 42.1% of Okeechobee County's 1,350 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (569 impaired). The top reported causes are MERCURY IN FISH TISSUE, DISSOLVED OXYGEN, PHOSPHORUS, TOTAL. 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 Okeechobee County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 74,831 measurements from 157 monitoring sites in Okeechobee County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, Cyanotoxins, Phytotoxins. 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 Okeechobee County water compare to the Florida average?
Okeechobee County's SDWIS water quality score of 52.7/100 is lower than the Florida state average of 56.0. The average water quality grade across Florida is D, based on data from 66 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Okeechobee County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Okeechobee County has a water quality grade of C (52.7/100). This indicates moderate compliance. Some violations have been recorded but overall standards are maintained. 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).
Does Okeechobee County have clean drinking water?
Okeechobee County has 3 health-based drinking water violations according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 52.7/100 and grade C, the county's drinking water has had some compliance issues but continues to be monitored. Note: drinking-water compliance speaks to the public water system, not necessarily to the watershed itself — check the Watershed Health zone for ATTAINS §303(d) data.
How does Okeechobee County rank for water quality in Florida?
Okeechobee County ranks #42 out of 66 counties in Florida by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 52.7/100, 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

Seminole County

Florida

C

54.3

Water score

Polk County

Florida

C

50.8

Water score

Osceola County

Florida

D

50.1

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 Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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