County water report

Montgomery County Water Report

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

Water grade

Water score

68.4

State rank

of 67

Health violations

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

0.0%

14,338 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

17,711 recent measurements

Live streamflow

41%

Schuylkill River at Norristown, PA

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Montgomery County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

Score: 68.4 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

0% impaired

14,338 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

41% of mean

Schuylkill River at Norristown, PA

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

17,711 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.

68.4/100

Health violations

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

1.7

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

Montgomery County has 9 facilities in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #51 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSI

75.2

0-100 index

Facility count

85.4 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

+18.4

Compared with US county median

Named operators

FlexentialLumen TechnologiesTierPoint

Mapped facilities

401 CITY AVE ASSOC/LOWER MERION
BALA CYNWYD
EPA ECHO
CSL BEHRING DATA CTR/KING OF PRUSSIA
KING OF PRUSSIA
EPA ECHO
DāStor: 3400 Horizon Drive
King of Prussia
OSM
DATA BASED INTERNATION SYS/LOWER PROVIDENCE
NORRISTOWN
EPA ECHO
Flexential Philadelphia - Collegeville
Collegeville · Flexential
OSM
INNOVATION 2201 LLC / UPPER MERION TWP
KING OF PRUSSIA
EPA ECHO

3 more mapped facilities included in the county score.

See the Montgomery County data-center report Review methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

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

Facility size: 100 MW

1 MW1,000 MW

Cooling type

Utilization: 70%

40%100%

799K gallons/dayModerate Impact

Your facility would use 5.0% of this county's industrial water baseline — manageable but worth monitoring against drought trends.

5.0% of county industrial baseline15.06 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 Montgomery County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Montgomery County earns a B grade for drinking water quality, scoring 68.4 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 21 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 14,338 water bodies) across Montgomery 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 Schuylkill River at 1.3k cfs — well below its long-term average at 41% 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. Montgomery County has moderate coverage with 27 active monitoring sites with 17,711 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and pfas,perfluorinated alkyl substance. 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 Montgomery County

Water Verdict

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of B and a score of 68.4 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 14,338 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 41.2% — worth watching in drier seasons.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Montgomery County, Pennsylvania show 21 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 1.7 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is relatively low compared to many U.S. counties. This compliance record sits alongside an unusually deep monitoring archive: 17,711 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 Montgomery County meets baseline safety standards, though the compliance record shows some violations worth watching. Montgomery County's drinking-water compliance score is 68.4 out of 100. The violation rate for Montgomery County is 1.7 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 27 active water-quality monitoring sites in Montgomery County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the Schuylkill River gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Montgomery County has better water quality than the average county in Pennsylvania. Its water score is 29.5 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 Montgomery County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Montgomery County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Montgomery County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Montgomery 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 14,338 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

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

18K

17,711 total readings

Most Measured

Physical
PFAS,Perfluorinated Alkyl Substance
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

1,270cfs

May 14, 6:30 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

41%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

Schuylkill River at Norristown, PA

USGS site: 01473500
Drainage area: 1,760 sq mi
Long-term mean: 3,080 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 Montgomery 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 Montgomery County, Pennsylvania?

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania has a drinking-water quality grade of B with a score of 68.4/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 21 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 Montgomery County?

Montgomery County has 21 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 Montgomery County?

EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 0.0% of Montgomery County's 14,338 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 Montgomery County?

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 17,711 measurements from 27 monitoring sites in Montgomery County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, PFAS,Perfluorinated Alkyl Substance, 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 Montgomery County right now?

Montgomery County's primary USGS streamgage on the Schuylkill River has a pipeline snapshot of 1,270 cubic feet per second — 41% of the long-term mean of 3,080.26 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 Montgomery County water compare to the Pennsylvania average?

Montgomery County's SDWIS water quality score of 68.4/100 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 Montgomery County?

Based on EPA SDWIS data, Montgomery County has a water quality grade of B (68.4/100). 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 Montgomery County have so many water violations?

Montgomery County has 21 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 Montgomery County rank for water quality in Pennsylvania?

Montgomery County ranks #5 out of 67 counties in Pennsylvania by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 68.4/100, 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

Pennsylvania

66.0

Water score

Westmoreland County

Pennsylvania

65.0

Water score

Lehigh County

Pennsylvania

63.8

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 May 14, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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