County water report

Hampden County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Hampden County, Massachusetts.

Water grade

Water score

66.4

State rank

of 14

Health violations

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

Not reported

EPA ATTAINS coverage varies by state

Monitoring sites

7,425 recent measurements

Live streamflow

75%

CONNECTICUT R AT I-391 BRIDGE AT HOLYOKE, MA

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Hampden County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

Score: 66.4 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

Not reported

Coverage varies by state

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

75% of mean

CONNECTICUT R AT I-391 BRIDGE AT HOLYOKE, MA

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

7,425 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

66.4/100

Health violations

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

2.8

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

Hampden County has 1 facility in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #1111 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSI

39.8

0-100 index

Facility count

0.0 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

+16.4

Compared with US county median

Mapped facilities

MASSACHUSETTS GREEN HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING CENTER
HOLYOKE
EPA ECHO

See the Hampden County data-center report Review methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

Estimate daily water use for a hypothetical facility in Hampden County.

Facility size: 100 MW

1 MW1,000 MW

Cooling type

Utilization: 70%

40%100%

799K gallons/dayModerate Impact

Your facility would use 13.6% of this county's industrial water baseline — manageable but worth monitoring against drought trends.

13.6% of county industrial baseline5.09 Mgal/day remaining headroom

Based on USGS 2020 water-use data and EPA-standard cooling intensity constants. Not a substitute for site-specific water rights analysis.

Editorial analysis

Understanding Hampden County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Hampden County earns a B grade for drinking water quality, scoring 66.4 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.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T14:30:00.000-04:00) puts CONNECTICUT R at 12.6k cfs — running somewhat below its historical average at 75% of mean. 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. Hampden County has extensive coverage with 63 active monitoring sites with 7,425 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 Hampden County

Water Verdict

Hampden County receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of B and a score of 66.4 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

Hampden County has recorded 12 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 2.8 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is relatively low compared to many U.S. counties.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Hampden County meets baseline safety standards, though the compliance record shows some violations worth watching. Hampden County's drinking-water compliance score is 66.4 out of 100. The violation rate for Hampden County is 2.8 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. With 63 active water-quality monitoring sites in Hampden County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the CONNECTICUT R gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Hampden County has water quality close to the average county in Massachusetts. Its water score is within 2.7 points of the state average, meaning its overall water system performance is broadly representative of Massachusetts 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 Hampden County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Hampden County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Hampden County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Hampden County

Consumer Confidence Reports (MA)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Massachusetts

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

7.4K

7,425 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

12.6Kcfs

May 14, 6:30 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

75%

Below typical

Primary Streamgage

CONNECTICUT R AT I-391 BRIDGE AT HOLYOKE, MA

USGS site: 01172010
Drainage area: 8,332 sq mi
Long-term mean: 16.8K 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

Household size

3 people · ~225 gal/day

Filter type

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Hampden 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.

Try the full calculator →

Improve your water quality at home

Berkey filters remove 99.9%+ of contaminants from tap water.

Shop Berkey →

Test your tap water

Tap Score provides professional mail-in water testing.

Get Tested →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Hampden County, Massachusetts?

Hampden County, Massachusetts has a drinking-water quality grade of B with a score of 66.4/100, 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 Hampden County?

Hampden County 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 much water-quality monitoring happens in Hampden County?

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 7,425 measurements from 63 monitoring sites in Hampden 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 Hampden County right now?

Hampden County's primary USGS streamgage on the CONNECTICUT R has a pipeline snapshot of 12,600 cubic feet per second — 75% of the long-term mean of 16,798.64 cfs. Flow is within typical range for this gauge. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.

How does Hampden County water compare to the Massachusetts average?

Hampden County's SDWIS water quality score of 66.4/100 is lower than the Massachusetts state average of 69.1. The average water quality grade across Massachusetts is C, based on data from 14 counties with available SDWIS data.

Is tap water safe to drink in Hampden County?

Based on EPA SDWIS data, Hampden County has a water quality grade of B (66.4/100). 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 Hampden County have so many water violations?

Hampden County 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 Hampden County rank for water quality in Massachusetts?

Hampden County ranks #8 out of 14 counties in Massachusetts by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 66.4/100, 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

Hampshire County

Massachusetts

67.5

Water score

Middlesex County

Massachusetts

68.0

Water score

Plymouth County

Massachusetts

64.5

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.

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 May 14, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

Explore more data for Hampden County

Property Tax Cost of Living Crime Rate Income Health Schools Disaster Risk Weather County Score