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Federal water data

County water report

Orleans Parish Water Report

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

Water grade

B

Water score

65.8

State rank

#9

of 63

Health violations

12

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

81.8%

121 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

24

17,920 recent measurements

Live streamflow

No gauge

Primary USGS station not mapped

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Orleans Parish

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

B

Score: 65.8 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

12

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

82% impaired

121 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

No gauge

Primary USGS gauge not mapped

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

24

17,920 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

B

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

65.8/100

Health violations

12

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

3.1

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Orleans Parish’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Orleans Parish earns a B grade for drinking water quality, scoring 65.8 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 12 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 — 81.8% — of assessed waterways are impaired (99 of 121 water bodies) across Orleans Parish's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are enterococcus 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. Orleans Parish has moderate coverage with 24 active monitoring sites with 17,920 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and microbiological. 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 Orleans Parish

Water Verdict

Orleans Parish receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of B and a score of 65.8 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

Orleans Parish has recorded 12 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 3.1 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is moderate and suggests recurring water quality challenges.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Orleans Parish meets baseline safety standards, though the compliance record shows some violations worth watching. Orleans Parish's drinking-water compliance score is 65.8 out of 100. The violation rate for Orleans Parish is 3.1 per 100,000 people served. Running tap water for 30 seconds before drinking can reduce any localized lead exposure from household plumbing. Requesting your utility's most recent Consumer Confidence Report is the fastest way to identify which specific contaminants were flagged. Enterococcus is the leading impairment cause in Orleans Parish's watershed. With 24 active water-quality monitoring sites in Orleans Parish, data coverage is strong.

Regional Context

Orleans Parish has better water quality than the average county in Louisiana. Its water score is 35.7 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 Orleans Parish's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Enterococcus 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

    Fecal coliform bacteria

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Orleans Parish

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Orleans Parish

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Orleans Parish

Consumer Confidence Reports (LA)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Louisiana

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

81.8%

99 of 121 assessed

High concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    ENTEROCOCCUS

  • 2

    DISSOLVED OXYGEN

  • 3

    FECAL COLIFORM

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

24

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

18K

17,920 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Microbiological
  • 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).

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Safety Grade for Orleans Parish: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 Orleans Parish, Louisiana?
Orleans Parish, Louisiana has a drinking-water quality grade of B with a score of 65.8/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 12 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 Orleans Parish?
Orleans Parish has 12 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 Orleans Parish?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 81.8% of Orleans Parish's 121 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (99 impaired). The top reported causes are ENTEROCOCCUS, DISSOLVED OXYGEN, FECAL COLIFORM. 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 Orleans Parish?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 17,920 measurements from 24 monitoring sites in Orleans Parish over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Microbiological, 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 Orleans Parish water compare to the Louisiana average?
Orleans Parish's SDWIS water quality score of 65.8/100 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 Orleans Parish?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Orleans Parish has a water quality grade of B (65.8/100). 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).
Why does Orleans Parish have so many water violations?
Orleans Parish has 12 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 Orleans Parish rank for water quality in Louisiana?
Orleans Parish ranks #9 out of 63 counties in Louisiana by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 65.8/100, 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

West Baton Rouge Parish

Louisiana

B

65.3

Water score

West Feliciana Parish

Louisiana

B

62.8

Water score

Jefferson Parish

Louisiana

B

69.0

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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