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County water report

Montgomery County Water Report

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

Water grade

F

Water score

12.4

State rank

#146

of 159

Health violations

14

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

66.7%

12 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

1

332 recent measurements

Live streamflow

46%

ALTAMAHA RIVER AT US 221, NR CHARLOTTEVILLE, GA

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Montgomery County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

F

Score: 12.4 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

14

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

67% impaired

12 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

46% of mean

ALTAMAHA RIVER AT US 221, NR CHARLOTTEVILLE, GA

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

1

332 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

F

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

12.4/100

Health violations

14

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

260.7

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Montgomery County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Montgomery County's water systems carry a failing grade, scoring 12.4 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 14 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 — 66.7% — of assessed waterways are impaired (8 of 12 water bodies) across Montgomery County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are fecal coliform and fish bioassessments. 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 2026-05-14T14:45:00.000-04:00) puts ALTAMAHA RIVER at 4.8k cfs — well below its long-term average at 46% 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. Montgomery County has limited coverage with 1 active monitoring site with 332 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and inorganics, minor, metals. 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 Montgomery County

Water Verdict

Montgomery County, Georgia receives a poor water quality assessment with a grade of F and a score of 12.4 out of 100. The water supply has documented quality issues. Residents are strongly encouraged to use filtered or bottled water for drinking and to stay informed about utility improvement plans. Separately, EPA ATTAINS assessments cover 12 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 66.7% listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act — a source-water measure that is tracked independently of tap-water compliance. At the most recent USGS reading, local streamflow was below its historical mean at 46.2% — worth watching in drier seasons.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Montgomery County, Georgia show 14 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 260.7 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. Independent monitoring is comparatively sparse here — 332 water-quality results logged in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years — so the utility's own reporting carries extra weight.

Consumer Guidance

Drinking-water compliance in Montgomery County is rated Grade F, reflecting significant health-based violations in the recent reporting period. Montgomery County's drinking-water compliance score is 12.4 out of 100. 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. Fecal Coliform is the leading impairment cause in Montgomery County's watershed. There is 1 active water-quality monitoring site in Montgomery County. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the ALTAMAHA RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Montgomery County has poorer water quality than the average county in Georgia. Its water score is 52 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 Montgomery County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Fecal coliform bacteria

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

  • 2

    Fish Bioassessments

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

  • 3

    Low dissolved oxygen

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Montgomery County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Montgomery County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Montgomery County

Consumer Confidence Reports (GA)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Georgia

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

66.7%

8 of 12 assessed

High concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    FECAL COLIFORM

  • 2

    FISH BIOASSESSMENTS

  • 3

    DISSOLVED OXYGEN

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

1

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

332

332 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Inorganics, Minor, Metals
  • Nutrient

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

4,750cfs

May 14, 6:45 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

46%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

ALTAMAHA RIVER AT US 221, NR CHARLOTTEVILLE, GA

USGS site
02224940
Drainage area
11,400 sq mi
Long-term mean
10.3K 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 Montgomery County:F — Failing

High violation count or severe watershed conditions.

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 Montgomery County, Georgia?
Montgomery County, Georgia has a drinking-water quality grade of F with a score of 12.4/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 14 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 Montgomery County?
Montgomery County has 14 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 Montgomery County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 66.7% of Montgomery County's 12 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (8 impaired). The top reported causes are FECAL COLIFORM, FISH BIOASSESSMENTS, DISSOLVED OXYGEN. 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 Montgomery County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 332 measurements from 1 monitoring sites in Montgomery County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Inorganics, Minor, Metals, Nutrient. 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 Montgomery County right now?
Montgomery County's primary USGS streamgage on the ALTAMAHA RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 4,750 cubic feet per second — 46% of the long-term mean of 10,270.56 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 Montgomery County water compare to the Georgia average?
Montgomery County's SDWIS water quality score of 12.4/100 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 Montgomery County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Montgomery County has a water quality grade of F (12.4/100). 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 Montgomery County have so many water violations?
Montgomery County has 14 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 Montgomery County rank for water quality in Georgia?
Montgomery County ranks #146 out of 159 counties in Georgia by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 12.4/100, 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

Heard County

Georgia

F

13.7

Water score

Talbot County

Georgia

F

13.7

Water score

Emanuel County

Georgia

F

10.7

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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