County water report

Cleveland County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Cleveland County, North Carolina.

Water grade

Water score

58.5

State rank

#36

of 100

Health violations

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

Not reported

EPA ATTAINS coverage varies by state

Monitoring sites

13,979 recent measurements

Live streamflow

33%

BROAD RIVER NEAR BOILING SPRINGS, NC

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Cleveland County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

Score: 58.5 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

Not reported

Coverage varies by state

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

33% of mean

BROAD RIVER NEAR BOILING SPRINGS, NC

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

13,979 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.

58.5/100

Health violations

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

7.6

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

Cleveland County has 2 facilities in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #147 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSI

53.1

0-100 index

Facility count

45.0 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

+8.5

Compared with US county median

Named operators

T5 Data Centers

Mapped facilities

BELLSOUTH TELECOMMUNICATIONS, LLC DBA AT&T NORTH CAROLINA
KINGS MOUNTAIN
EPA ECHO
T5 Charlotte Campus
Kings Mountain · T5 Data Centers
OSM

See the Cleveland County data-center report Review methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

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

Facility size: 100 MW

1 MW1,000 MW

Cooling type

Utilization: 70%

40%100%

799K gallons/dayHigh Impact

Your facility would use 200.7% of this county's industrial water baseline. Verify water rights and long-term drought projections before committing.

200.7% of county industrial baseline

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 Cleveland County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Cleveland County's drinking water earned a C grade, scoring 58.5 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 8 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 2026-05-14T14:15:00.000-04:00) puts BROAD RIVER at 477.0 cfs — well below its long-term average at 33% 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. Cleveland County has moderate coverage with 23 active monitoring sites with 13,979 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include organics, other and organics, pesticide. 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 Cleveland County

Water Verdict

Cleveland County receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of C and a score of 58.5 out of 100. The water supply meets baseline federal standards, but there may be periods of elevated contaminant levels or infrastructure concerns worth monitoring.

Violation Context

Cleveland County has recorded 8 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 7.6 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is moderate and suggests recurring water quality challenges.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Cleveland County meets baseline standards but the compliance record shows room for improvement, with a Grade C rating. Cleveland County's drinking-water compliance score is 58.5 out of 100. The violation rate for Cleveland County is 7.6 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 23 active water-quality monitoring sites in Cleveland County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the BROAD RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Cleveland County has better water quality than the average county in North Carolina. Its water score is 5.5 points higher than the state average, indicating stronger water system performance relative to 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 Cleveland County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Cleveland County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Cleveland County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Cleveland County

Consumer Confidence Reports (NC)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in North Carolina

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

14K

13,979 total readings

Most Measured

Organics, Other
Organics, Pesticide
Inorganics, Minor, Metals

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

477cfs

May 14, 6:15 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

33%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

BROAD RIVER NEAR BOILING SPRINGS, NC

USGS site: 02151500
Drainage area: 875 sq mi
Long-term mean: 1,465 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 Cleveland 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.

Try the full calculator →

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Cleveland County, North Carolina?

Cleveland County, North Carolina has a drinking-water quality grade of C with a score of 58.5/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 8 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 Cleveland County?

Cleveland County has 8 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 Cleveland County?

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 13,979 measurements from 23 monitoring sites in Cleveland County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Organics, Other, Organics, Pesticide, Inorganics, Minor, Metals. 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 Cleveland County right now?

Cleveland County's primary USGS streamgage on the BROAD RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 477 cubic feet per second — 33% of the long-term mean of 1,465.17 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 Cleveland County water compare to the North Carolina average?

Cleveland County's SDWIS water quality score of 58.5/100 is higher than the North Carolina state average of 53.0. The average water quality grade across North Carolina is D, based on data from 100 counties with available SDWIS data.

Is tap water safe to drink in Cleveland County?

Based on EPA SDWIS data, Cleveland County has a water quality grade of C (58.5/100). 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 Cleveland County have so many water violations?

Cleveland County has 8 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 Cleveland County rank for water quality in North Carolina?

Cleveland County ranks #36 out of 100 counties in North Carolina by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 58.5/100, 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

Caldwell County

North Carolina

57.7

Water score

Surry County

North Carolina

57.5

Water score

Halifax County

North Carolina

56.6

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

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