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Federal water data

County water report

Lehigh County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.

Water grade

B

Water score

63.8

State rank

#8

of 67

Health violations

11

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

0.0%

17,747 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

16

4,878 recent measurements

Live streamflow

77%

Lehigh River at Bethlehem, PA

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Lehigh County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

B

Score: 63.8 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

11

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

0% impaired

17,747 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

77% of mean

Lehigh River at Bethlehem, PA

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

16

4,878 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.

63.8/100

Health violations

11

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

4.3

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

Lehigh County has 3 facilities in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #109 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSIThe Data Center Water Stress Index: 60% the county's water-system stress plus 40% how concentrated data centers already are, scored 0-100. Higher means data-center density and water pressure overlap more here.

62.7

0-100 index

Facility count

3

61.1 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

+13.8

Compared with US county median

Named operators

TierPointFlexential

Mapped facilities

  • Allentown-TekPark

    TierPoint

    OSM

  • Flexential Allentown data center

    Allentown · Flexential

    OSM

  • TIERPOINT TWO, LLC - TEKPARK FACILITY

    BREINIGSVILLE

    EPA ECHO
See the Lehigh County data-center reportReview methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

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

1 MW1,000 MW
40%100%
799K gallons/dayModerate Impact

Your facility would use 9.2% of this county's industrial water baseline — manageable but worth monitoring against drought trends.

9.2% of county industrial baseline7.85 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 Lehigh County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Lehigh County earns a B grade for drinking water quality, scoring 63.8 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 11 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 17,747 water bodies) across Lehigh 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 2026-05-14T14:30:00.000-04:00) puts Lehigh River at 2.0k cfs — running somewhat below its historical average at 77% of mean. 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. Lehigh County has moderate coverage with 16 active monitoring sites with 4,878 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and inorganics, minor, metals. 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 Lehigh County

Water Verdict

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of B and a score of 63.8 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 track 17,747 water bodies in the county's watershed, none of which are currently listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act. At the most recent USGS reading, local streamflow was below its historical mean at 76.8% — worth watching in drier seasons.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Lehigh County, Pennsylvania show 11 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 4.3 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is moderate and suggests recurring water quality challenges. For independent context, 4,878 water-quality monitoring results have been recorded across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Lehigh County meets baseline safety standards, though the compliance record shows some violations worth watching. Lehigh County's drinking-water compliance score is 63.8 out of 100. The violation rate for Lehigh County is 4.3 per 100,000 people served. Running tap water for 30 seconds before drinking can reduce any localized lead exposure from household plumbing. Requesting your utility's most recent Consumer Confidence Report is the fastest way to identify which specific contaminants were flagged. With 16 active water-quality monitoring sites in Lehigh County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the Lehigh River gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Lehigh County has better water quality than the average county in Pennsylvania. Its water score is 24.9 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 Lehigh County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Lehigh County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Lehigh County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Lehigh County

Consumer Confidence Reports (PA)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Pennsylvania

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

0.0%

0 of 17,747 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

4.9K

4,878 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Inorganics, Minor, Metals
  • Nutrient

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

1,960cfs

May 14, 6:30 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

77%

Below typical

Primary Streamgage

Lehigh River at Bethlehem, PA

USGS site
01453000
Drainage area
1,279 sq mi
Long-term mean
2,552 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 Lehigh 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.

Try the full calculator →

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania?
Lehigh County, Pennsylvania has a drinking-water quality grade of B with a score of 63.8/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 11 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 Lehigh County?
Lehigh County has 11 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 Lehigh County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 0.0% of Lehigh County's 17,747 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 Lehigh County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 4,878 measurements from 16 monitoring sites in Lehigh County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Inorganics, Minor, Metals, Nutrient. 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 Lehigh County right now?
Lehigh County's primary USGS streamgage on the Lehigh River has a pipeline snapshot of 1,960 cubic feet per second — 77% of the long-term mean of 2,552.06 cfs. Flow is within typical range for this gauge. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Lehigh County water compare to the Pennsylvania average?
Lehigh County's SDWIS water quality score of 63.8/100 is higher than the Pennsylvania state average of 38.9. The average water quality grade across Pennsylvania is F, based on data from 67 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Lehigh County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Lehigh County has a water quality grade of B (63.8/100). 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).
Why does Lehigh County have so many water violations?
Lehigh County has 11 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 Lehigh County rank for water quality in Pennsylvania?
Lehigh County ranks #8 out of 67 counties in Pennsylvania by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 63.8/100, 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

Northumberland County

Pennsylvania

B

63.2

Water score

Westmoreland County

Pennsylvania

B

65.0

Water score

Allegheny County

Pennsylvania

C

62.0

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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