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County water report

Grady County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Grady County, Oklahoma.

Water grade

F

Water score

12.2

State rank

#29

of 77

Health violations

88

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

0.0%

4 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

10

5,776 recent measurements

Live streamflow

25%

Washita River at Alex, OK

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Grady County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

F

Score: 12.2 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

88

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

0% impaired

4 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

25% of mean

Washita River at Alex, OK

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

10

5,776 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

F

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

12.2/100

Health violations

88

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

265.3

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Grady County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Grady County's water systems carry a failing grade, scoring 12.2 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 88 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 4 water bodies) across Grady 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 2026-05-14T13:00:00.000-05:00) puts Washita River at 168.0 cfs — well below its long-term average at 25% 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. Grady County has moderate coverage with 10 active monitoring sites with 5,776 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include not assigned and physical. 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 Grady County

Water Verdict

Grady County receives a poor water quality assessment with a grade of F and a score of 12.2 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

Grady County has recorded 88 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 265.3 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Grady County has a Grade F compliance record with 88 health-based violations — among the highest levels in the country. Grady County's drinking-water compliance score is 12.2 out of 100. 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 Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality or Health can expedite utility compliance action. There are 10 active water-quality monitoring sites in Grady County. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the Washita River gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Grady County has water quality close to the average county in Oklahoma. Its water score is within 3.6 points of the state average, meaning its overall water system performance is broadly representative of Oklahoma 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 Grady County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Grady County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Grady County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Grady County

Consumer Confidence Reports (OK)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Oklahoma

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

0.0%

0 of 4 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

10

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

5.8K

5,776 total readings

Most Measured

  • Not Assigned
  • Physical
  • Physical, Habitat

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

168cfs

May 14, 6:00 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

25%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

Washita River at Alex, OK

USGS site
07328100
Drainage area
4,768 sq mi
Long-term mean
674 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 Grady 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 Grady County, Oklahoma?
Grady County, Oklahoma has a drinking-water quality grade of F with a score of 12.2/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 88 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 Grady County?
Grady County has 88 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 Grady County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 0.0% of Grady County's 4 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 Grady County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 5,776 measurements from 10 monitoring sites in Grady County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Not Assigned, Physical, Physical, Habitat. 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 Grady County right now?
Grady County's primary USGS streamgage on the Washita River has a pipeline snapshot of 168 cubic feet per second — 25% of the long-term mean of 673.79 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 Grady County water compare to the Oklahoma average?
Grady County's SDWIS water quality score of 12.2/100 is lower than the Oklahoma state average of 15.8. The average water quality grade across Oklahoma is F, based on data from 77 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Grady County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Grady County has a water quality grade of F (12.2/100). 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 Grady County have so many water violations?
Grady County has 88 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 Grady County rank for water quality in Oklahoma?
Grady County ranks #29 out of 77 counties in Oklahoma by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 12.2/100, 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

Kay County

Oklahoma

F

12.7

Water score

Stephens County

Oklahoma

F

11.6

Water score

Washington County

Oklahoma

F

11.5

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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