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County water report

Shawnee County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Shawnee County, Kansas.

Water grade

D

Water score

42.1

State rank

#42

of 105

Health violations

44

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

Not reported

EPA ATTAINS coverage varies by state

Monitoring sites

6

4,581 recent measurements

Live streamflow

27%

KANSAS R AT TOPEKA, KS

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Shawnee County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

D

Score: 42.1 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

44

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

Not reported

Coverage varies by state

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

27% of mean

KANSAS R AT TOPEKA, KS

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

6

4,581 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.

42.1/100

Health violations

44

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

28.5

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Shawnee County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Shawnee County's drinking water received a D grade, scoring 42.1 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 44 health-based violations — a pattern that public water utilities are required to disclose and correct.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T13:30:00.000-05:00) puts KANSAS R at 1.5k cfs — well below its long-term average at 27% 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. Shawnee County has limited coverage with 6 active monitoring sites with 4,581 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 Shawnee County

Water Verdict

Shawnee County, Kansas receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of D and a score of 42.1 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking. The county's primary USGS gauge drains roughly 56,720 square miles of upstream watershed, giving local source waters a regional footprint. At the most recent USGS reading, local streamflow was below its historical mean at 26.5% — worth watching in drier seasons.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Shawnee County, Kansas show 44 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 28.5 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. For independent context, 4,581 water-quality monitoring results have been recorded across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

Shawnee County's drinking-water compliance is below average with a Grade D, indicating repeated or unresolved violations in the recent record. Shawnee County's drinking-water compliance score is 42.1 out of 100. The violation rate for Shawnee County is 28.5 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. There are 6 active water-quality monitoring sites in Shawnee County. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the KANSAS R gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Shawnee County has water quality close to the average county in Kansas. Its water score is within 0.5 points of the state average, meaning its overall water system performance is broadly representative of Kansas as a whole.

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 Shawnee County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Shawnee County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Shawnee County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Shawnee County

Consumer Confidence Reports (KS)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Kansas

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

6

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

4.6K

4,581 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Nutrient
  • Inorganics, Major, Non-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

1,500cfs

May 14, 6:30 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

27%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

KANSAS R AT TOPEKA, KS

USGS site
06889000
Drainage area
56,720 sq mi
Long-term mean
5,657 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 Shawnee County:D — Poor

Elevated violations or significant watershed impairment.

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 Shawnee County, Kansas?
Shawnee County, Kansas has a drinking-water quality grade of D with a score of 42.1/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 44 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 Shawnee County?
Shawnee County has 44 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 much water-quality monitoring happens in Shawnee County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 4,581 measurements from 6 monitoring sites in Shawnee County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, Inorganics, Major, Non-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 Shawnee County right now?
Shawnee County's primary USGS streamgage on the KANSAS R has a pipeline snapshot of 1,500 cubic feet per second — 27% of the long-term mean of 5,657.31 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 Shawnee County water compare to the Kansas average?
Shawnee County's SDWIS water quality score of 42.1/100 is lower than the Kansas state average of 42.6. The average water quality grade across Kansas is D, based on data from 105 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Shawnee County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Shawnee County has a water quality grade of D (42.1/100). 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 Shawnee County have so many water violations?
Shawnee County has 44 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 Shawnee County rank for water quality in Kansas?
Shawnee County ranks #42 out of 105 counties in Kansas by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 42.1/100, 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

Geary County

Kansas

D

41.7

Water score

Allen County

Kansas

D

41.4

Water score

Ellis County

Kansas

F

40.9

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.

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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