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Federal water data

County water report

Ripley County Water Report

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

Water grade

D

Water score

41.5

State rank

#63

of 92

Health violations

9

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

31.9%

213 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

13

6,004 recent measurements

Live streamflow

No gauge

Primary USGS station not mapped

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Ripley County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

D

Score: 41.5 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

9

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

32% impaired

213 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

No gauge

Primary USGS gauge not mapped

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

13

6,004 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.

41.5/100

Health violations

9

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

29.6

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Ripley County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Ripley County's drinking water received a D grade, scoring 41.5 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 9 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 substantial 31.9% of assessed waterways are impaired (68 of 213 water bodies) across Ripley County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are escherichia coli (e. coli) 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. Ripley County has moderate coverage with 13 active monitoring sites with 6,004 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include organics, pesticide 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 Ripley County

Water Verdict

Ripley County, Indiana receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of D and a score of 41.5 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking. Separately, EPA ATTAINS assessments cover 213 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 31.9% 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 Ripley County, Indiana show 9 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 29.6 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. For independent context, 6,004 water-quality monitoring results have been recorded across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

Ripley County's drinking-water compliance is below average with a Grade D, indicating repeated or unresolved violations in the recent record. Ripley County's drinking-water compliance score is 41.5 out of 100. The violation rate for Ripley County is 29.6 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. E. coli is the leading impairment cause in Ripley County's watershed. With 13 active water-quality monitoring sites in Ripley County, data coverage is strong.

Regional Context

Ripley County has poorer water quality than the average county in Indiana. Its water score is 11 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 Ripley County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    E. coli (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

    Biological Integrity

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Ripley County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Ripley County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Ripley County

Consumer Confidence Reports (IN)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Indiana

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

31.9%

68 of 213 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI)

  • 2

    DISSOLVED OXYGEN

  • 3

    BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY

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

13

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

6.0K

6,004 total readings

Most Measured

  • Organics, Pesticide
  • Physical
  • Inorganics, Minor, 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).

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 Ripley 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 Ripley County, Indiana?
Ripley County, Indiana has a drinking-water quality grade of D with a score of 41.5/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 9 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 Ripley County?
Ripley County has 9 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 Ripley County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 31.9% of Ripley County's 213 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (68 impaired). The top reported causes are ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI), DISSOLVED OXYGEN, BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY. 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 Ripley County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 6,004 measurements from 13 monitoring sites in Ripley County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Organics, Pesticide, Physical, Inorganics, Minor, 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.
How does Ripley County water compare to the Indiana average?
Ripley County's SDWIS water quality score of 41.5/100 is lower 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 Ripley County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Ripley County has a water quality grade of D (41.5/100). 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 Ripley County have so many water violations?
Ripley County has 9 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 Ripley County rank for water quality in Indiana?
Ripley County ranks #63 out of 92 counties in Indiana by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 41.5/100, 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

Montgomery County

Indiana

F

40.0

Water score

LaPorte County

Indiana

D

43.1

Water score

Monroe County

Indiana

F

39.8

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.

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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