County water report

Bartholomew County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Bartholomew County, Indiana.

Water grade

Water score

64.2

State rank

#28

of 92

Health violations

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

21.9%

183 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

3,833 recent measurements

Live streamflow

117%

EAST FORK WHITE RIVER AT COLUMBUS, IN

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Bartholomew County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

Score: 64.2 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

22% impaired

183 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

117% of mean

EAST FORK WHITE RIVER AT COLUMBUS, IN

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

3,833 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

64.2/100

Health violations

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

4.0

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

Bartholomew County has 1 facility in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #1167 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSI

38.5

0-100 index

Facility count

0.0 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

+14.2

Compared with US county median

Mapped facilities

DATA CAVE, INC.
COLUMBUS
EPA ECHO

See the Bartholomew County data-center report Review methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

Estimate daily water use for a hypothetical facility in Bartholomew County.

Facility size: 100 MW

1 MW1,000 MW

Cooling type

Utilization: 70%

40%100%

799K gallons/dayHigh Impact

Your facility would use 21.5% of this county's industrial water baseline. Verify water rights and long-term drought projections before committing.

21.5% of county industrial baseline2.91 Mgal/day remaining headroom

Based on USGS 2020 water-use data and EPA-standard cooling intensity constants. Not a substitute for site-specific water rights analysis.

Editorial analysis

Understanding Bartholomew County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Bartholomew County earns a B grade for drinking water quality, scoring 64.2 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 notable 21.9% of assessed waterways carry an impairment designation (40 of 183 water bodies) across Bartholomew County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are escherichia coli (e. coli) and biological integrity. 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 2026-05-14T15:00:00.000-04:00) puts EAST FORK WHITE RIVER at 2.4k cfs — flowing above its historical average at 117% of mean. 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. Bartholomew County has moderate coverage with 14 active monitoring sites with 3,833 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 Bartholomew County

Water Verdict

Bartholomew County receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of B and a score of 64.2 out of 100. The water supply meets baseline federal standards, but there may be periods of elevated contaminant levels or infrastructure concerns worth monitoring.

Violation Context

Bartholomew County has recorded 3 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 4.0 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is moderate and suggests recurring water quality challenges.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Bartholomew County scores well above average for drinking-water safety. Bartholomew County's drinking-water compliance score is 64.2 out of 100. With 3 recorded health violations, the water supply is generally reliable. The violation rate for Bartholomew County is 4.0 per 100,000 people served. Households with infants, pregnant individuals, or immunocompromised members may want to use an NSF 53-certified pitcher filter as a low-cost precaution. E. coli is the leading impairment cause in Bartholomew County's watershed. With 14 active water-quality monitoring sites in Bartholomew County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the EAST FORK WHITE RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Bartholomew County has better water quality than the average county in Indiana. Its water score is 11.7 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 Bartholomew County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

1
E. coli (bacteria)
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment
2
Biological Integrity
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment
3
Pcbs in Fish Tissue
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Bartholomew County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Bartholomew County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Bartholomew County

Consumer Confidence Reports (IN)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Indiana

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

21.9%

40 of 183 assessed

Some impairment

Top Impairment Causes

1
ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI)
2
BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY
3
PCBS 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

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

3.8K

3,833 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

2,370cfs

May 14, 7:00 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

117%

Above typical

Primary Streamgage

EAST FORK WHITE RIVER AT COLUMBUS, IN

USGS site: 03364000
Drainage area: 1,707 sq mi
Long-term mean: 2,031 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

Household size

3 people · ~225 gal/day

Filter type

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Bartholomew 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.

Try the full calculator →

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Bartholomew County, Indiana?

Bartholomew County, Indiana has a drinking-water quality grade of B with a score of 64.2/100, 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 Bartholomew County?

Bartholomew 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 Bartholomew County?

EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 21.9% of Bartholomew County's 183 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (40 impaired). The top reported causes are ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI), BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY, PCBS 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 Bartholomew County?

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 3,833 measurements from 14 monitoring sites in Bartholomew 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 Bartholomew County right now?

Bartholomew County's primary USGS streamgage on the EAST FORK WHITE RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 2,370 cubic feet per second — 117% of the long-term mean of 2,030.51 cfs. Flow is within typical range for this gauge. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.

How does Bartholomew County water compare to the Indiana average?

Bartholomew County's SDWIS water quality score of 64.2/100 is higher than the Indiana state average of 52.5. The average water quality grade across Indiana is D, based on data from 92 counties with available SDWIS data.

Is tap water safe to drink in Bartholomew County?

Based on EPA SDWIS data, Bartholomew County has a water quality grade of B (64.2/100). 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 Bartholomew County have clean drinking water?

Bartholomew County has 3 health-based drinking water violations according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 64.2/100 and grade B, 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 Bartholomew County rank for water quality in Indiana?

Bartholomew County ranks #28 out of 92 counties in Indiana by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 64.2/100, it falls in the top 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

Daviess County

Indiana

64.4

Water score

Porter County

Indiana

63.8

Water score

Tippecanoe County

Indiana

63.8

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 May 14, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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