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County water report

Catoosa County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Catoosa County, Georgia.

Water grade

D

Water score

49.1

State rank

#113

of 159

Health violations

12

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

75.9%

29 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

6

3,642 recent measurements

Live streamflow

16%

SOUTH CHICKAMAUGA CREEK AT RINGGOLD, GA

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Catoosa County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

D

Score: 49.1 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

12

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

76% impaired

29 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

16% of mean

SOUTH CHICKAMAUGA CREEK AT RINGGOLD, GA

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

6

3,642 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

D

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

49.1/100

Health violations

12

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

17.7

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Catoosa County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Catoosa County's drinking water received a D grade, scoring 49.1 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 12 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 large majority — 75.9% — of assessed waterways are impaired (22 of 29 water bodies) across Catoosa County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are fish bioassessments and fecal coliform. Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T14:30:00.000-04:00) puts SOUTH CHICKAMAUGA CREEK at 49.8 cfs — well below its long-term average at 16% of mean — low-flow conditions worth noting for water-dependent ecosystems. Streamflow is a leading indicator of drought stress, sediment load, and dilution capacity: low flows concentrate pollutants and warm water temperatures, stressing aquatic life and, in surface-water-dependent systems, the source water quality for treatment plants.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Catoosa County has limited coverage with 6 active monitoring sites with 3,642 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 Catoosa County

Water Verdict

Catoosa County receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of D and a score of 49.1 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking.

Violation Context

Catoosa County has recorded 12 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 17.7 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Catoosa County's drinking-water compliance is below average with a Grade D, indicating repeated or unresolved violations in the recent record. Catoosa County's drinking-water compliance score is 49.1 out of 100. The violation rate for Catoosa County is 17.7 per 100,000 people served. Residents are encouraged to use an NSF 53 or NSF 58-certified filter for drinking and cooking water until the underlying violations are resolved. Running tap water for 30 seconds before use and avoiding older lead-pipe connections can also reduce exposure risk. The current Consumer Confidence Report from your utility will specify the contaminants of concern. Fish Bioassessments is the leading impairment cause in Catoosa County's watershed. There are 6 active water-quality monitoring sites in Catoosa County. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the SOUTH CHICKAMAUGA CREEK gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Catoosa County has poorer water quality than the average county in Georgia. Its water score is 15.3 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 Catoosa County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Fish Bioassessments

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

  • 2

    Fecal coliform bacteria

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

  • 3

    Benthic Macroinvertebrates Bioassessments

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Catoosa County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Catoosa County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Catoosa County

Consumer Confidence Reports (GA)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Georgia

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

75.9%

22 of 29 assessed

High concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    FISH BIOASSESSMENTS

  • 2

    FECAL COLIFORM

  • 3

    BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES BIOASSESSMENTS

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

6

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

3.6K

3,642 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Nutrient
  • 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).

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

49.8cfs

May 14, 6:30 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

16%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

SOUTH CHICKAMAUGA CREEK AT RINGGOLD, GA

USGS site
03566700
Drainage area
169 sq mi
Long-term mean
322 cfs

One representative streamgage (the one with the largest drainage area in the county). Many counties have multiple gauges; this view summarizes the primary one. The long-term mean is the full-record annual average; the percent-of-typical value compares the latest reading against that average.

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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 Catoosa County:D — Poor

Elevated violations or significant watershed impairment.

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 Catoosa County, Georgia?
Catoosa County, Georgia has a drinking-water quality grade of D with a score of 49.1/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 12 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 Catoosa County?
Catoosa County has 12 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 Catoosa County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 75.9% of Catoosa County's 29 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (22 impaired). The top reported causes are FISH BIOASSESSMENTS, FECAL COLIFORM, BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES BIOASSESSMENTS. 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 Catoosa County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 3,642 measurements from 6 monitoring sites in Catoosa County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, 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.
What's happening with rivers in Catoosa County right now?
Catoosa County's primary USGS streamgage on the SOUTH CHICKAMAUGA CREEK has a pipeline snapshot of 49.8 cubic feet per second — 16% of the long-term mean of 321.59 cfs. This is well below typical — often a signal of drought stress on source water. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Catoosa County water compare to the Georgia average?
Catoosa County's SDWIS water quality score of 49.1/100 is lower than the Georgia state average of 64.4. The average water quality grade across Georgia is C, based on data from 159 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Catoosa County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Catoosa County has a water quality grade of D (49.1/100). 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 Catoosa County have so many water violations?
Catoosa County has 12 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 Catoosa County rank for water quality in Georgia?
Catoosa County ranks #113 out of 159 counties in Georgia by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 49.1/100, it falls in the bottom 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

Barrow County

Georgia

D

49.0

Water score

Telfair County

Georgia

D

47.7

Water score

Habersham County

Georgia

D

47.3

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.

Live streamflow from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), continuous discharge measurements from the largest-drainage gauge in each county, compared against the full-record long-term annual mean.

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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