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Federal water data

County water report

Calcasieu Parish Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana.

Water grade

D

Water score

43.6

State rank

#16

of 63

Health violations

53

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

92.7%

82 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

46

14,236 recent measurements

Live streamflow

No gauge

Bear Head Ck nr Starks, LA

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Calcasieu Parish

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

D

Score: 43.6 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

53

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

93% impaired

82 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

No gauge

Bear Head Ck nr Starks, LA

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

46

14,236 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.

43.6/100

Health violations

53

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

25.9

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Calcasieu Parish’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Calcasieu Parish's drinking water received a D grade, scoring 43.6 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 53 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 — 92.7% — of assessed waterways are impaired (76 of 82 water bodies) across Calcasieu Parish's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are dissolved oxygen and fecal coliform. 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. Calcasieu Parish has moderate coverage with 46 active monitoring sites with 14,236 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and organics, other. 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 Calcasieu Parish

Water Verdict

Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of D and a score of 43.6 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 82 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 92.7% 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 Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana show 53 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 25.9 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. This compliance record sits alongside an unusually deep monitoring archive: 14,236 water-quality results have been logged across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

Calcasieu Parish's drinking-water compliance is below average with a Grade D, indicating repeated or unresolved violations in the recent record. Calcasieu Parish's drinking-water compliance score is 43.6 out of 100. The violation rate for Calcasieu Parish is 25.9 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. Dissolved Oxygen is the leading impairment cause in Calcasieu Parish's watershed. With 46 active water-quality monitoring sites in Calcasieu Parish, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the Bear Head Ck gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Calcasieu Parish has better water quality than the average county in Louisiana. Its water score is 13.5 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 Calcasieu Parish's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Low dissolved oxygen

    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

    Enterococcus bacteria

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Calcasieu Parish

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Calcasieu Parish

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Calcasieu Parish

Consumer Confidence Reports (LA)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Louisiana

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

92.7%

76 of 82 assessed

High concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    DISSOLVED OXYGEN

  • 2

    FECAL COLIFORM

  • 3

    ENTEROCOCCUS

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

46

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

14K

14,236 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Organics, Other
  • 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).

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 Calcasieu Parish: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 Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana?
Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana has a drinking-water quality grade of D with a score of 43.6/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 53 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 Calcasieu Parish?
Calcasieu Parish has 53 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 Calcasieu Parish?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 92.7% of Calcasieu Parish's 82 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (76 impaired). The top reported causes are DISSOLVED OXYGEN, FECAL COLIFORM, ENTEROCOCCUS. 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 Calcasieu Parish?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 14,236 measurements from 46 monitoring sites in Calcasieu Parish over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Organics, Other, 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.
How does Calcasieu Parish water compare to the Louisiana average?
Calcasieu Parish's SDWIS water quality score of 43.6/100 is higher than the Louisiana state average of 30.1. The average water quality grade across Louisiana is F, based on data from 63 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Calcasieu Parish?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Calcasieu Parish has a water quality grade of D (43.6/100). 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 Calcasieu Parish have so many water violations?
Calcasieu Parish has 53 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 Calcasieu Parish rank for water quality in Louisiana?
Calcasieu Parish ranks #16 out of 63 counties in Louisiana by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 43.6/100, 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

Beauregard Parish

Louisiana

D

44.8

Water score

Lafayette Parish

Louisiana

F

41.1

Water score

Rapides Parish

Louisiana

D

46.5

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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