County water report

Dorchester County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Dorchester County, South Carolina.

Water grade

Water score

62.3

State rank

#30

of 46

Health violations

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

Not reported

EPA ATTAINS coverage varies by state

Monitoring sites

21,380 recent measurements

Live streamflow

26%

EDISTO RIVER NR GIVHANS, SC

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Dorchester County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

Score: 62.3 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

Not reported

Coverage varies by state

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

26% of mean

EDISTO RIVER NR GIVHANS, SC

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

21,380 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.

62.3/100

Health violations

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

5.0

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

Dorchester County has 1 facility in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #1216 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSI

37.4

0-100 index

Facility count

0.0 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

+12.3

Compared with US county median

Mapped facilities

AUTUMN TIMBER, LLC
RIDGEVILLE
EPA ECHO

See the Dorchester County data-center report Review methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

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

Facility size: 100 MW

1 MW1,000 MW

Cooling type

Utilization: 70%

40%100%

799K gallons/dayHigh Impact

Your facility would use 42.9% of this county's industrial water baseline. Verify water rights and long-term drought projections before committing.

42.9% of county industrial baseline1.06 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 Dorchester County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Dorchester County earns a B grade for drinking water quality, scoring 62.3 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 8 health-based violations — a pattern that public water utilities are required to disclose and correct.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T14:30:00.000-04:00) puts EDISTO RIVER at 636.0 cfs — well below its long-term average at 26% 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. Dorchester County has moderate coverage with 10 active monitoring sites with 21,380 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include organics, pesticide 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 Dorchester County

Water Verdict

Dorchester County, South Carolina receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of B and a score of 62.3 out of 100. The water supply meets baseline federal standards, but there may be periods of elevated contaminant levels or infrastructure concerns worth monitoring. The county's primary USGS gauge drains roughly 2,730 square miles of upstream watershed, giving local source waters a regional footprint. At the most recent USGS reading, local streamflow was below its historical mean at 26.1% — worth watching in drier seasons.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Dorchester County, South Carolina show 8 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 5.0 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is moderate and suggests recurring water quality challenges. This compliance record sits alongside an unusually deep monitoring archive: 21,380 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 Dorchester County meets baseline safety standards, though the compliance record shows some violations worth watching. Dorchester County's drinking-water compliance score is 62.3 out of 100. The violation rate for Dorchester County is 5.0 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. There are 10 active water-quality monitoring sites in Dorchester County. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the EDISTO RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Dorchester County has water quality close to the average county in South Carolina. Its water score is within 2.6 points of the state average, meaning its overall water system performance is broadly representative of South Carolina 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 Dorchester County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Dorchester County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Dorchester County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Dorchester County

Consumer Confidence Reports (SC)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in South Carolina

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

21K

21,380 total readings

Most Measured

Organics, Pesticide
Physical
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

636cfs

May 14, 6:30 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

26%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

EDISTO RIVER NR GIVHANS, SC

USGS site: 02175000
Drainage area: 2,730 sq mi
Long-term mean: 2,435 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 Dorchester 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 →

Improve your water quality at home

Berkey filters remove 99.9%+ of contaminants from tap water.

Shop Berkey →

Test your tap water

Tap Score provides professional mail-in water testing.

Get Tested →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Dorchester County, South Carolina?

Dorchester County, South Carolina has a drinking-water quality grade of B with a score of 62.3/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 8 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 Dorchester County?

Dorchester County has 8 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 much water-quality monitoring happens in Dorchester County?

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 21,380 measurements from 10 monitoring sites in Dorchester County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Organics, Pesticide, Physical, 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 Dorchester County right now?

Dorchester County's primary USGS streamgage on the EDISTO RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 636 cubic feet per second — 26% of the long-term mean of 2,434.96 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 Dorchester County water compare to the South Carolina average?

Dorchester County's SDWIS water quality score of 62.3/100 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.

Is tap water safe to drink in Dorchester County?

Based on EPA SDWIS data, Dorchester County has a water quality grade of B (62.3/100). 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 Dorchester County have so many water violations?

Dorchester County has 8 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 Dorchester County rank for water quality in South Carolina?

Dorchester County ranks #30 out of 46 counties in South Carolina by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 62.3/100, 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

Pickens County

South Carolina

63.0

Water score

Charleston County

South Carolina

63.2

Water score

York County

South Carolina

61.3

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.

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

Explore more data for Dorchester County

Property Tax Cost of Living Crime Rate Income Health Schools Disaster Risk Weather County Score