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Federal water data

County water report

Chatham County Water Report

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

Water grade

A

Water score

70.1

State rank

#96

of 159

Health violations

3

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

33.3%

54 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

33

16,594 recent measurements

Live streamflow

No gauge

SAVANNAH RIVER AT GA 25, AT PORT WENTWORTH, GA

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Chatham County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

A

Score: 70.1 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

3

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

33% impaired

54 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

No gauge

SAVANNAH RIVER AT GA 25, AT PORT WENTWORTH, GA

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

33

16,594 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

A

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

70.1/100

Health violations

3

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

0.9

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Chatham County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Chatham County earns an A grade for drinking water quality, scoring 70.1 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 33.3% of assessed waterways are impaired (18 of 54 water bodies) across Chatham County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are fecal coliform 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. Chatham County has moderate coverage with 33 active monitoring sites with 16,594 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 Chatham County

Water Verdict

Chatham County, Georgia receives a good water quality assessment with a grade of A and a score of 70.1 out of 100. While the water supply is generally safe, occasional monitoring gaps or minor contaminant detections may occur. Separately, EPA ATTAINS assessments cover 54 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 33.3% 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 Chatham County, Georgia show 3 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 0.9 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is relatively low compared to many U.S. counties. This compliance record sits alongside an unusually deep monitoring archive: 16,594 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 Chatham County earns a Grade A overall with a small number of isolated health violations in the recent record. Chatham County's drinking-water compliance score is 70.1 out of 100. The violation rate for Chatham County is 0.9 per 100,000 people served. These violations were likely resolved quickly; Grade A reflects a strong multi-year compliance trend. Reviewing the most recent Consumer Confidence Report will show exactly which systems were affected and what corrective action was taken. With 33 active water-quality monitoring sites in Chatham County, data coverage is strong. Fecal Coliform is the leading impairment cause in Chatham County's watershed. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the SAVANNAH RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Chatham County has better water quality than the average county in Georgia. Its water score is 5.7 points higher than the state average, indicating stronger water system performance relative to 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 Chatham County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Fecal coliform bacteria

    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

    Mercury (fish tissue)

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Chatham County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Chatham County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Chatham County

Consumer Confidence Reports (GA)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Georgia

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

33.3%

18 of 54 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    FECAL COLIFORM

  • 2

    DISSOLVED OXYGEN

  • 3

    MERCURY IN FISH TISSUE

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

33

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

17K

16,594 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Nutrient
  • Microbiological

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

8,930cfs

May 14, 6:30 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

Long-term average not yet available.

Primary Streamgage

SAVANNAH RIVER AT GA 25, AT PORT WENTWORTH, GA

USGS site
02198920

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.

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 Chatham 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 Chatham County, Georgia?
Chatham County, Georgia has a drinking-water quality grade of A with a score of 70.1/100, 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 Chatham County?
Chatham 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 Chatham County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 33.3% of Chatham County's 54 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (18 impaired). The top reported causes are FECAL COLIFORM, DISSOLVED OXYGEN, MERCURY IN FISH TISSUE. 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 Chatham County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 16,594 measurements from 33 monitoring sites in Chatham County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, Microbiological. 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 Chatham County right now?
Chatham County's primary USGS streamgage on the SAVANNAH RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 8,930 cubic feet per second. Flow is within typical range for this gauge. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Chatham County water compare to the Georgia average?
Chatham County's SDWIS water quality score of 70.1/100 is higher 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 Chatham County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Chatham County has a water quality grade of A (70.1/100). This indicates good to excellent water quality with strong SDWIS compliance. 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 Chatham County have clean drinking water?
Chatham County has 3 health-based drinking water violations according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 70.1/100 and grade A, 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 Chatham County rank for water quality in Georgia?
Chatham County ranks #96 out of 159 counties in Georgia by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 70.1/100, 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

Glynn County

Georgia

B

69.7

Water score

Richmond County

Georgia

B

69.0

Water score

Carroll County

Georgia

B

68.0

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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