Pennington County Water Quality

Pennington County, Minnesota has a drinking-water quality grade of C with a score of 54.5/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 1 health-based drinking water violation over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and live streamflow are reported separately on this page.

Pennington County has 1 health-based drinking water violation 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.

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 11,063 measurements from 37 monitoring sites in Pennington County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Organics, Pesticide, 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.

Pennington County's SDWIS water quality score of 54.5/100 is lower than the Minnesota state average of 67.2. The average water quality grade across Minnesota is C, based on data from 87 counties with available SDWIS data.

Based on EPA SDWIS data, Pennington County has a water quality grade of C (54.5/100). This indicates moderate compliance. Some violations have been recorded but overall standards are maintained. 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).

Pennington County has 1 health-based drinking water violation according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 54.5/100 and grade C, the county's drinking water has had some compliance issues but continues to be monitored. Note: drinking-water compliance speaks to the public water system, not necessarily to the watershed itself — check the Watershed Health zone for ATTAINS §303(d) data.

Pennington County ranks #62 out of 87 counties in Minnesota by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 54.5/100, 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.