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County water report

Camden County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Camden County, New Jersey.

Water grade

C

Water score

57.5

State rank

#13

of 21

Health violations

23

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

90.9%

11 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

105

15,108 recent measurements

Live streamflow

32%

Great Egg Harbor River near Blue Anchor NJ

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Camden County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

C

Score: 57.5 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

23

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

91% impaired

11 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

32% of mean

Great Egg Harbor River near Blue Anchor NJ

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

105

15,108 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

C

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

57.5/100

Health violations

23

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

8.5

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Camden County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Camden County's drinking water earned a C grade, scoring 57.5 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 23 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). A large majority — 90.9% — of assessed waterways are impaired (10 of 11 water bodies) across Camden County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are pcbs in fish tissue and mercury in fish tissue. 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 2026-05-14T15:00:00.000-04:00) puts Great Egg Harbor River at 18.0 cfs — well below its long-term average at 32% 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. Camden County has extensive coverage with 105 active monitoring sites with 15,108 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and organics, pcbs. 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 Camden County

Water Verdict

Camden County, New Jersey receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of C and a score of 57.5 out of 100. The water supply meets baseline federal standards, but there may be periods of elevated contaminant levels or infrastructure concerns worth monitoring. Separately, EPA ATTAINS assessments cover 11 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 90.9% listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act — a source-water measure that is tracked independently of tap-water compliance. At the most recent USGS reading, local streamflow was below its historical mean at 31.6% — worth watching in drier seasons.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Camden County, New Jersey show 23 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 8.5 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. This compliance record sits alongside an unusually deep monitoring archive: 15,108 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 Camden County meets baseline standards but the compliance record shows room for improvement, with a Grade C rating. Camden County's drinking-water compliance score is 57.5 out of 100. The violation rate for Camden County is 8.5 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. Pcbs in Fish Tissue is the leading impairment cause in Camden County's watershed. With 105 active water-quality monitoring sites in Camden County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the Great Egg Harbor River gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Camden County has water quality close to the average county in New Jersey. Its water score is within 1.8 points of the state average, meaning its overall water system performance is broadly representative of New Jersey 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 Camden County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Pcbs in Fish Tissue

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 2

    Mercury (fish tissue)

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 3

    Fecal coliform bacteria

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Camden County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Camden County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Camden County

Consumer Confidence Reports (NJ)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in New Jersey

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

90.9%

10 of 11 assessed

High concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    PCBS IN FISH TISSUE

  • 2

    MERCURY IN FISH TISSUE

  • 3

    FECAL COLIFORM

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

105

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

15K

15,108 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Organics, PCBs
  • 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

18.0cfs

May 14, 7:00 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

32%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

Great Egg Harbor River near Blue Anchor NJ

USGS site
01410820
Drainage area
37.3 sq mi
Long-term mean
56.9 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.

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Water Cost Estimate

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Camden County:D — Poor

Elevated violations or significant watershed impairment.

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 Camden County, New Jersey?
Camden County, New Jersey has a drinking-water quality grade of C with a score of 57.5/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 23 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 Camden County?
Camden County has 23 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 Camden County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 90.9% of Camden County's 11 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (10 impaired). The top reported causes are PCBS IN FISH TISSUE, MERCURY IN FISH TISSUE, FECAL COLIFORM. 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 Camden County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 15,108 measurements from 105 monitoring sites in Camden County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Organics, PCBs, 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 Camden County right now?
Camden County's primary USGS streamgage on the Great Egg Harbor River has a pipeline snapshot of 18 cubic feet per second — 32% of the long-term mean of 56.91 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 Camden County water compare to the New Jersey average?
Camden County's SDWIS water quality score of 57.5/100 is higher than the New Jersey state average of 55.7. The average water quality grade across New Jersey is D, based on data from 21 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Camden County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Camden County has a water quality grade of C (57.5/100). 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).
Why does Camden County have so many water violations?
Camden County has 23 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 Camden County rank for water quality in New Jersey?
Camden County ranks #13 out of 21 counties in New Jersey by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 57.5/100, 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

Monmouth County

New Jersey

C

57.5

Water score

Essex County

New Jersey

C

55.8

Water score

Somerset County

New Jersey

C

59.3

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 Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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