Charleston County Water Quality

Charleston County, South Carolina has a drinking-water quality grade of B with a score of 63.2/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 22 health-based drinking water violations over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and live streamflow are reported separately on this page.

Charleston County has 22 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.

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 31,448 measurements from 137 monitoring sites in Charleston County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Microbiological, 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.

Charleston County's SDWIS water quality score of 63.2/100 is lower than the South Carolina state average of 64.9. The average water quality grade across South Carolina is C, based on data from 46 counties with available SDWIS data.

Based on EPA SDWIS data, Charleston County has a water quality grade of B (63.2/100). 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).

Charleston County has 22 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.

Charleston County ranks #28 out of 46 counties in South Carolina by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 63.2/100, 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.