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Federal water data

County water report

Washington Parish Water Report

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

Water grade

F

Water score

25.5

State rank

#27

of 63

Health violations

29

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

77.4%

53 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

9

2,094 recent measurements

Live streamflow

162%

Pearl River near Bogalusa, LA

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Washington Parish

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

F

Score: 25.5 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

29

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

77% impaired

53 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

162% of mean

Pearl River near Bogalusa, LA

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

9

2,094 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

F

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

25.5/100

Health violations

29

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

88.2

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Washington Parish’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Washington Parish's water systems carry a failing grade, scoring 25.5 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 29 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 — 77.4% — of assessed waterways are impaired (41 of 53 water bodies) across Washington Parish's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are mercury - fish consumption advisory and dissolved oxygen. 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 2026-05-14T13:00:00.000-05:00) puts Pearl River at 16.4k cfs — running significantly above its long-term average at 162% of mean flow. 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. Washington Parish has limited coverage with 9 active monitoring sites with 2,094 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 Washington Parish

Water Verdict

Washington Parish receives a poor water quality assessment with a grade of F and a score of 25.5 out of 100. The water supply has documented quality issues. Residents are strongly encouraged to use filtered or bottled water for drinking and to stay informed about utility improvement plans.

Violation Context

Washington Parish has recorded 29 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 88.2 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Washington Parish has a Grade F compliance record with 29 health-based violations — among the highest levels in the country. Washington Parish's drinking-water compliance score is 25.5 out of 100. The violation rate for Washington Parish is 88.2 per 100,000 people served. Residents are strongly advised to use a certified NSF 58 reverse-osmosis filter or bottled water for all drinking and cooking until violations are corrected. Contacting the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality or Health can expedite utility compliance action. Mercury - Fish Consumption Advisory is the leading impairment cause in Washington Parish's watershed. There are 9 active water-quality monitoring sites in Washington Parish. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the Pearl River gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Washington Parish has water quality close to the average county in Louisiana. Its water score is within 4.6 points of the state average, meaning its overall water system performance is broadly representative of Louisiana 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 Washington Parish's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Mercury - Fish Consumption Advisory

    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

    Enterococcus bacteria

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Washington Parish

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Washington Parish

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Washington Parish

Consumer Confidence Reports (LA)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Louisiana

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

77.4%

41 of 53 assessed

High concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    MERCURY - FISH CONSUMPTION ADVISORY

  • 2

    DISSOLVED OXYGEN

  • 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

9

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

2.1K

2,094 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).

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

16.4Kcfs

May 14, 6:00 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

162%

Well above typical

Primary Streamgage

Pearl River near Bogalusa, LA

USGS site
02489500
Drainage area
6,573 sq mi
Long-term mean
10.1K 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

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Washington Parish:F — Failing

High violation count or severe watershed conditions.

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 Washington Parish, Louisiana?
Washington Parish, Louisiana has a drinking-water quality grade of F with a score of 25.5/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 29 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 Washington Parish?
Washington Parish has 29 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 Washington Parish?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 77.4% of Washington Parish's 53 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (41 impaired). The top reported causes are MERCURY - FISH CONSUMPTION ADVISORY, DISSOLVED OXYGEN, 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 Washington Parish?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 2,094 measurements from 9 monitoring sites in Washington 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.
What's happening with rivers in Washington Parish right now?
Washington Parish's primary USGS streamgage on the Pearl River has a pipeline snapshot of 16,400 cubic feet per second — 162% of the long-term mean of 10,147.41 cfs. This is well above typical — often a signal of recent precipitation or storm runoff. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Washington Parish water compare to the Louisiana average?
Washington Parish's SDWIS water quality score of 25.5/100 is lower 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 Washington Parish?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Washington Parish has a water quality grade of F (25.5/100). 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 Washington Parish have so many water violations?
Washington Parish has 29 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 Washington Parish rank for water quality in Louisiana?
Washington Parish ranks #27 out of 63 counties in Louisiana by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 25.5/100, 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

Catahoula Parish

Louisiana

F

25.7

Water score

Avoyelles Parish

Louisiana

F

27.0

Water score

Vermilion Parish

Louisiana

F

27.1

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 Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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