County water report

Worcester County Water Report

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

Water grade

Water score

63.5

State rank

#11

of 14

Health violations

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

Not reported

EPA ATTAINS coverage varies by state

Monitoring sites

114

17,725 recent measurements

Live streamflow

44%

BLACKSTONE RIVER, RT 122 BRIDGE NEAR UXBRIDGE, MA

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Worcester County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

Score: 63.5 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

Not reported

Coverage varies by state

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

44% of mean

BLACKSTONE RIVER, RT 122 BRIDGE NEAR UXBRIDGE, MA

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

114

17,725 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.

63.5/100

Health violations

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

4.4

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

Worcester County has 3 facilities in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #111 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSI

62.5

0-100 index

Facility count

61.1 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

+13.5

Compared with US county median

Mapped facilities

NEW ENGLAND STUDIOS
DEVENS
EPA ECHO
SSB REALTY GRAFTON DATA CENTER
GRAFTON
EPA ECHO
SSB REALTY WESTBOROUGH DATA CENTER
WESTBOROUGH
EPA ECHO

See the Worcester County data-center report Review methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

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

Facility size: 100 MW

1 MW1,000 MW

Cooling type

Utilization: 70%

40%100%

799K gallons/dayLow Impact

Your facility would use 4.0% of this county's existing industrial water baseline — well within sustainable range.

4.0% of county industrial baseline19.15 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 Worcester County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Worcester County earns a B grade for drinking water quality, scoring 63.5 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 32 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 2026-05-14T15:00:00.000-04:00) puts BLACKSTONE RIVER, RT 122 BRIDGE at 230.0 cfs — well below its long-term average at 44% 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. Worcester County has extensive coverage with 114 active monitoring sites with 17,725 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 Worcester County

Water Verdict

Worcester County, Massachusetts receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of B and a score of 63.5 out of 100. The water supply meets baseline federal standards, but there may be periods of elevated contaminant levels or infrastructure concerns worth monitoring. The county's primary USGS gauge drains roughly 244 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 44.4% — worth watching in drier seasons.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Worcester County, Massachusetts show 32 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 4.4 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is moderate and suggests recurring water quality challenges. This compliance record sits alongside an unusually deep monitoring archive: 17,725 water-quality results have been logged across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Worcester County meets baseline safety standards, though the compliance record shows some violations worth watching. Worcester County's drinking-water compliance score is 63.5 out of 100. The violation rate for Worcester County is 4.4 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 114 active water-quality monitoring sites in Worcester County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the BLACKSTONE RIVER, RT 122 BRIDGE gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Worcester County has poorer water quality than the average county in Massachusetts. Its water score is 5.6 points lower than the state average, suggesting more challenges with contamination control or infrastructure than 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 Worcester County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Worcester County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Worcester County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Worcester County

Consumer Confidence Reports (MA)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Massachusetts

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

114

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

18K

17,725 total readings

Most Measured

Physical
Nutrient
Microbiological

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

230cfs

May 14, 7:00 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

44%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

BLACKSTONE RIVER, RT 122 BRIDGE NEAR UXBRIDGE, MA

USGS site: 01111212
Drainage area: 244 sq mi
Long-term mean: 518 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 Worcester 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 Worcester County, Massachusetts?

Worcester County, Massachusetts has a drinking-water quality grade of B with a score of 63.5/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 32 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 Worcester County?

Worcester County has 32 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 Worcester County?

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 17,725 measurements from 114 monitoring sites in Worcester County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, Microbiological. 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 Worcester County right now?

Worcester County's primary USGS streamgage on the BLACKSTONE RIVER, RT 122 BRIDGE has a pipeline snapshot of 230 cubic feet per second — 44% of the long-term mean of 517.88 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 Worcester County water compare to the Massachusetts average?

Worcester County's SDWIS water quality score of 63.5/100 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 Worcester County?

Based on EPA SDWIS data, Worcester County has a water quality grade of B (63.5/100). 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 Worcester County have so many water violations?

Worcester County has 32 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 Worcester County rank for water quality in Massachusetts?

Worcester County ranks #11 out of 14 counties in Massachusetts by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 63.5/100, it falls in the bottom 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

Norfolk County

Massachusetts

63.8

Water score

Plymouth County

Massachusetts

64.5

Water score

Berkshire County

Massachusetts

60.6

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 Worcester County

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