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Federal water data

County water report

Bureau County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Bureau County, Illinois.

Water grade

F

Water score

29.5

State rank

#79

of 102

Health violations

18

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

22.1%

222 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

5

1,181 recent measurements

Live streamflow

35%

BIG BUREAU CREEK AT PRINCETON, IL

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Bureau County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

F

Score: 29.5 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

18

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

22% impaired

222 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

35% of mean

BIG BUREAU CREEK AT PRINCETON, IL

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

5

1,181 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.

29.5/100

Health violations

18

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

69.7

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Bureau County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Bureau County's water systems carry a failing grade, scoring 29.5 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 18 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 22.1% of assessed waterways carry an impairment designation (49 of 222 water bodies) across Bureau County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are mercury 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 2026-05-14T12:45:00.000-06:00) puts BIG BUREAU CREEK at 52.4 cfs — well below its long-term average at 35% 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. Bureau County has limited coverage with 5 active monitoring sites with 1,181 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include inorganics, minor, metals 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 Bureau County

Water Verdict

Bureau County receives a poor water quality assessment with a grade of F and a score of 29.5 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.

Violation Context

Bureau County has recorded 18 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 69.7 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Drinking-water compliance in Bureau County is rated Grade F, reflecting significant health-based violations in the recent reporting period. Bureau County's drinking-water compliance score is 29.5 out of 100. The violation rate for Bureau County is 69.7 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. Mercury is the leading impairment cause in Bureau County's watershed. There are 5 active water-quality monitoring sites in Bureau County. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the BIG BUREAU CREEK gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Bureau County has poorer water quality than the average county in Illinois. Its water score is 18.3 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 Bureau County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Mercury

    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

    Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs)

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Bureau County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Bureau County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Bureau County

Consumer Confidence Reports (IL)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Illinois

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

22.1%

49 of 222 assessed

Some impairment

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    MERCURY

  • 2

    FECAL COLIFORM

  • 3

    POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBS)

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

5

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

1.2K

1,181 total readings

Most Measured

  • Inorganics, Minor, Metals
  • Physical
  • Inorganics, Major, 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

52.4cfs

May 14, 6:45 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

35%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

BIG BUREAU CREEK AT PRINCETON, IL

USGS site
05556500
Drainage area
196 sq mi
Long-term mean
150 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.

Free tool

Estimate Your Water Costs

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 Bureau 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 Bureau County, Illinois?
Bureau County, Illinois has a drinking-water quality grade of F with a score of 29.5/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 18 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 Bureau County?
Bureau County has 18 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 Bureau County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 22.1% of Bureau County's 222 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (49 impaired). The top reported causes are MERCURY, FECAL COLIFORM, POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBS). 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 Bureau County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 1,181 measurements from 5 monitoring sites in Bureau County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Inorganics, Minor, Metals, Physical, Inorganics, Major, 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 Bureau County right now?
Bureau County's primary USGS streamgage on the BIG BUREAU CREEK has a pipeline snapshot of 52.4 cubic feet per second — 35% of the long-term mean of 149.8 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 Bureau County water compare to the Illinois average?
Bureau County's SDWIS water quality score of 29.5/100 is lower than the Illinois state average of 47.8. The average water quality grade across Illinois is D, based on data from 102 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Bureau County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Bureau County has a water quality grade of F (29.5/100). 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 Bureau County have so many water violations?
Bureau County has 18 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 Bureau County rank for water quality in Illinois?
Bureau County ranks #79 out of 102 counties in Illinois by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 29.5/100, 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

Fayette County

Illinois

F

29.5

Water score

Douglas County

Illinois

F

29.3

Water score

Perry County

Illinois

F

29.7

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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