County water report

Clay County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Clay County, Missouri.

Water grade

Water score

34.5

State rank

#76

of 115

Health violations

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

Not reported

EPA ATTAINS coverage varies by state

Monitoring sites

3,987 recent measurements

Live streamflow

Little Platte River at Smithville, MO

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Clay County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

Score: 34.5 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

Not reported

Coverage varies by state

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

8% of mean

Little Platte River at Smithville, MO

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

3,987 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.

34.5/100

Health violations

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

48.3

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

Clay County has 5 facilities in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #979 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSI

49.7

0-100 index

Facility count

72.6 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

-15.5

Compared with US county median

Named operators

MetaOracle

Mapped facilities

Meta Data Center
Meta
OSM
Meta Kansas City Data Center
Meta
OSM
OpenStreetMap data center 1433936352
Facility details limited
OSM
ORACLE 3200 DATA CENTER
KANSAS CITY
EPA ECHO
ORACLE KC-7/8 DATA CENTERS
KANSAS CITY
EPA ECHO

See the Clay County data-center report Review methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

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

Facility size: 100 MW

1 MW1,000 MW

Cooling type

Utilization: 70%

40%100%

799K gallons/dayHigh Impact

Your facility would use 17.2% of this county's industrial water baseline. Verify water rights and long-term drought projections before committing.

17.2% of county industrial baseline3.84 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 Clay County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Clay County's water systems carry a failing grade, scoring 34.5 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 56 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 2026-05-14T13:30:00.000-05:00) puts Little Platte River at 14.0 cfs — well below its long-term average at 8% 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. Clay County has moderate coverage with 24 active monitoring sites with 3,987 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 Clay County

Water Verdict

Clay County receives a poor water quality assessment with a grade of F and a score of 34.5 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

Clay County has recorded 56 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 48.3 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Clay County has a Grade F compliance record with 56 health-based violations — among the highest levels in the country. Clay County's drinking-water compliance score is 34.5 out of 100. The violation rate for Clay County is 48.3 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 Missouri Department of Environmental Quality or Health can expedite utility compliance action. With 24 active water-quality monitoring sites in Clay County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the Little Platte River gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Clay County has poorer water quality than the average county in Missouri. Its water score is 14.3 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 Clay County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Clay County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Clay County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Clay County

Consumer Confidence Reports (MO)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Missouri

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

4.0K

3,987 total readings

Most Measured

Physical
Nutrient
Organics, Pesticide

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

14.0cfs

May 14, 6:30 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

Little Platte River at Smithville, MO

USGS site: 06821150
Drainage area: 234 sq mi
Long-term mean: 167 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 Clay County: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 Clay County, Missouri?

Clay County, Missouri has a drinking-water quality grade of F with a score of 34.5/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 56 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 Clay County?

Clay County has 56 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 Clay County?

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 3,987 measurements from 24 monitoring sites in Clay County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, Organics, Pesticide. 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 Clay County right now?

Clay County's primary USGS streamgage on the Little Platte River has a pipeline snapshot of 14 cubic feet per second — 8% of the long-term mean of 166.95 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 Clay County water compare to the Missouri average?

Clay County's SDWIS water quality score of 34.5/100 is lower than the Missouri state average of 48.8. The average water quality grade across Missouri is D, based on data from 115 counties with available SDWIS data.

Is tap water safe to drink in Clay County?

Based on EPA SDWIS data, Clay County has a water quality grade of F (34.5/100). 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 Clay County have so many water violations?

Clay County has 56 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 Clay County rank for water quality in Missouri?

Clay County ranks #76 out of 115 counties in Missouri by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 34.5/100, 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

Carroll County

Missouri

34.6

Water score

McDonald County

Missouri

33.8

Water score

Stone County

Missouri

35.4

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

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