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Federal water data

County water report

Orange County Water Report

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

Water grade

B

Water score

66.6

State rank

#22

of 100

Health violations

3

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

0.0%

2 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

16

10,521 recent measurements

Live streamflow

13%

ENO RIVER AT HILLSBOROUGH, NC

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Orange County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

B

Score: 66.6 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

3

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

0% impaired

2 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

13% of mean

ENO RIVER AT HILLSBOROUGH, NC

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

16

10,521 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

B

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

66.6/100

Health violations

3

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

2.6

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Orange County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Orange County earns a B grade for drinking water quality, scoring 66.6 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 3 health-based violations — a small cluster that warrants attention.

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 2 water bodies) across Orange 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 2026-05-14T14:45:00.000-04:00) puts ENO RIVER at 7.6 cfs — well below its long-term average at 13% 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. Orange County has moderate coverage with 16 active monitoring sites with 10,521 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 Orange County

Water Verdict

Orange County receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of B and a score of 66.6 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

Orange County has recorded 3 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 2.6 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is relatively low compared to many U.S. counties.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Orange County scores well above average for drinking-water safety. Orange County's drinking-water compliance score is 66.6 out of 100. With 3 recorded health violations, the water supply is generally reliable. The violation rate for Orange County is 2.6 per 100,000 people served. Households with infants, pregnant individuals, or immunocompromised members may want to use an NSF 53-certified pitcher filter as a low-cost precaution. With 16 active water-quality monitoring sites in Orange County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the ENO RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Orange County has better water quality than the average county in North Carolina. Its water score is 13.6 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 Orange County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Orange County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Orange County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Orange County

Consumer Confidence Reports (NC)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in North Carolina

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

0.0%

0 of 2 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

16

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

11K

10,521 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Nutrient
  • Inorganics, Major, Non-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

7.62cfs

May 14, 6:45 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

13%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

ENO RIVER AT HILLSBOROUGH, NC

USGS site
02085000
Drainage area
66 sq mi
Long-term mean
59.8 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

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Orange 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.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Orange County, North Carolina?
Orange County, North Carolina has a drinking-water quality grade of B with a score of 66.6/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 3 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 Orange County?
Orange County has 3 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 Orange County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 0.0% of Orange County's 2 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 Orange County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 10,521 measurements from 16 monitoring sites in Orange County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, Inorganics, Major, Non-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 Orange County right now?
Orange County's primary USGS streamgage on the ENO RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 7.62 cubic feet per second — 13% of the long-term mean of 59.77 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 Orange County water compare to the North Carolina average?
Orange County's SDWIS water quality score of 66.6/100 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 Orange County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Orange County has a water quality grade of B (66.6/100). This indicates good to excellent water quality with strong SDWIS compliance. 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).
Does Orange County have clean drinking water?
Orange County has 3 health-based drinking water violations according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 66.6/100 and grade B, 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.
How does Orange County rank for water quality in North Carolina?
Orange County ranks #22 out of 100 counties in North Carolina by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 66.6/100, it falls in the top 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

Cumberland County

North Carolina

B

66.6

Water score

Currituck County

North Carolina

B

66.4

Water score

Sampson County

North Carolina

B

66.2

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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