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County water report

York County Water Report

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

Water grade

D

Water score

47.6

State rank

#24

of 67

Health violations

70

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

0.0%

30,009 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

88

38,024 recent measurements

Live streamflow

25%

West Conewago Creek near Manchester, PA

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for York County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

D

Score: 47.6 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

70

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

0% impaired

30,009 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

25% of mean

West Conewago Creek near Manchester, PA

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

88

38,024 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

D

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

47.6/100

Health violations

70

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

19.9

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding York County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

York County's drinking water received a D grade, scoring 47.6 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 70 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 30,009 water bodies) across York 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 2026-05-14T15:00:00.000-04:00) puts West Conewago Creek at 156.0 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. York County has extensive coverage with 88 active monitoring sites with 38,024 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 York County

Water Verdict

York County, Pennsylvania receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of D and a score of 47.6 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking. Separately, EPA ATTAINS assessments track 30,009 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 24.9% — worth watching in drier seasons.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for York County, Pennsylvania show 70 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 19.9 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. This compliance record sits alongside an unusually deep monitoring archive: 38,024 water-quality results have been logged across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

York County's drinking-water compliance is below average with a Grade D, indicating repeated or unresolved violations in the recent record. York County's drinking-water compliance score is 47.6 out of 100. The violation rate for York County is 19.9 per 100,000 people served. Residents are encouraged to use an NSF 53 or NSF 58-certified filter for drinking and cooking water until the underlying violations are resolved. Running tap water for 30 seconds before use and avoiding older lead-pipe connections can also reduce exposure risk. The current Consumer Confidence Report from your utility will specify the contaminants of concern. With 88 active water-quality monitoring sites in York County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the West Conewago Creek gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

York County has better water quality than the average county in Pennsylvania. Its water score is 8.7 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 York County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for York County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for York County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for York 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 30,009 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

88

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

38K

38,024 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Nutrient
  • 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

156cfs

May 14, 7:00 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

25%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

West Conewago Creek near Manchester, PA

USGS site
01574000
Drainage area
510 sq mi
Long-term mean
626 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

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Water Cost Estimate

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Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for York 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 York County, Pennsylvania?
York County, Pennsylvania has a drinking-water quality grade of D with a score of 47.6/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 70 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 York County?
York County has 70 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 York County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 0.0% of York County's 30,009 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 York County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 38,024 measurements from 88 monitoring sites in York County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, 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 York County right now?
York County's primary USGS streamgage on the West Conewago Creek has a pipeline snapshot of 156 cubic feet per second — 25% of the long-term mean of 626.1 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 York County water compare to the Pennsylvania average?
York County's SDWIS water quality score of 47.6/100 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 York County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, York County has a water quality grade of D (47.6/100). 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 York County have so many water violations?
York County has 70 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 York County rank for water quality in Pennsylvania?
York County ranks #24 out of 67 counties in Pennsylvania by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 47.6/100, 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

Somerset County

Pennsylvania

D

47.5

Water score

Columbia County

Pennsylvania

D

48.1

Water score

Luzerne County

Pennsylvania

D

48.6

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.

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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