County water report

St. Louis County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for St. Louis County, Minnesota.

Water grade

Water score

57.2

State rank

#61

of 87

Health violations

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

0.0%

3 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

927

112,483 recent measurements

Live streamflow

188%

VERMILION RIVER NR CRANE LAKE, MN

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for St. Louis County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

Score: 57.2 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

0% impaired

3 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

188% of mean

VERMILION RIVER NR CRANE LAKE, MN

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

927

112,483 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.

57.2/100

Health violations

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

8.6

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

St. Louis County has 1 facility in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #1354 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSI

34.3

0-100 index

Facility count

0.0 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

+7.2

Compared with US county median

Mapped facilities

Ark Duluth Data Center
Facility details limited
OSM

See the St. Louis County data-center report Review methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

Estimate daily water use for a hypothetical facility in St. Louis County.

Facility size: 100 MW

1 MW1,000 MW

Cooling type

Utilization: 70%

40%100%

799K gallons/dayHigh Impact

Your facility would use 16.7% of this county's industrial water baseline. Verify water rights and long-term drought projections before committing.

16.7% of county industrial baseline3.98 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 St. Louis County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

St. Louis County's drinking water earned a C grade, scoring 57.2 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 13 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). None of the assessed waterways are listed as impaired (0 of 3 water bodies) across St. Louis County's watersheds. 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 2026-05-14T13:30:00.000-05:00) puts VERMILION RIVER at 1.2k cfs — running significantly above its long-term average at 188% 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. St. Louis County has extensive coverage with 927 active monitoring sites with 112,483 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and pfas,perfluorinated alkyl substance. 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 St. Louis County

Water Verdict

St. Louis County receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of C and a score of 57.2 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

St. Louis County has recorded 13 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 8.6 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in St. Louis County meets baseline standards but the compliance record shows room for improvement, with a Grade C rating. St. Louis County's drinking-water compliance score is 57.2 out of 100. The violation rate for St. Louis County is 8.6 per 100,000 people served. Residents who are immunocompromised, pregnant, or have young children may benefit from using an NSF 53-certified filter. Contacting your local utility for the current Consumer Confidence Report will confirm which specific violations were recorded and whether they have been resolved. With 927 active water-quality monitoring sites in St. Louis County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the VERMILION RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

St. Louis County has poorer water quality than the average county in Minnesota. Its water score is 10 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 St. Louis County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for St. Louis County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for St. Louis County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for St. Louis County

Consumer Confidence Reports (MN)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Minnesota

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

0.0%

0 of 3 assessed

Mostly healthy

Top Impairment Causes

No specific impairment causes reported for the assessed water bodies in this county.

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

927

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

112K

112,483 total readings

Most Measured

Physical
PFAS,Perfluorinated Alkyl Substance
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

1,160cfs

May 14, 6:30 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

188%

Well above typical

Primary Streamgage

VERMILION RIVER NR CRANE LAKE, MN

USGS site: 05129115
Drainage area: 905 sq mi
Long-term mean: 616 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 St. Louis 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 →

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in St. Louis County, Minnesota?

St. Louis County, Minnesota has a drinking-water quality grade of C with a score of 57.2/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 13 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 St. Louis County?

St. Louis County has 13 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 St. Louis County?

EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 0.0% of St. Louis County's 3 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (0 impaired). 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 St. Louis County?

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 112,483 measurements from 927 monitoring sites in St. Louis County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, PFAS,Perfluorinated Alkyl Substance, 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 St. Louis County right now?

St. Louis County's primary USGS streamgage on the VERMILION RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 1,160 cubic feet per second — 188% of the long-term mean of 615.6 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 St. Louis County water compare to the Minnesota average?

St. Louis County's SDWIS water quality score of 57.2/100 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.

Is tap water safe to drink in St. Louis County?

Based on EPA SDWIS data, St. Louis County has a water quality grade of C (57.2/100). 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).

Why does St. Louis County have so many water violations?

St. Louis County has 13 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 St. Louis County rank for water quality in Minnesota?

St. Louis County ranks #61 out of 87 counties in Minnesota by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 57.2/100, 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

Winona County

Minnesota

58.6

Water score

Scott County

Minnesota

59.8

Water score

Steele County

Minnesota

59.8

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 May 14, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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