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County water report

Greenwood County Water Report

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

Water grade

B

Water score

68.2

State rank

#23

of 46

Health violations

1

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

0.0%

2 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

9

2,629 recent measurements

Live streamflow

22%

SALUDA RIVER NEAR WARE SHOALS, SC

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Greenwood County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

B

Score: 68.2 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

1

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

0% impaired

2 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

22% of mean

SALUDA RIVER NEAR WARE SHOALS, SC

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

9

2,629 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.

68.2/100

Health violations

1

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

1.8

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Greenwood County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Greenwood County earns a B grade for drinking water quality, scoring 68.2 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 1 health-based violation — a single incident worth monitoring.

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 2 water bodies) across Greenwood 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 2026-05-14T14:15:00.000-04:00) puts SALUDA RIVER at 211.0 cfs — well below its long-term average at 22% 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. Greenwood County has limited coverage with 9 active monitoring sites with 2,629 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 Greenwood County

Water Verdict

Greenwood County receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of B and a score of 68.2 out of 100. The water supply meets baseline federal standards, but there may be periods of elevated contaminant levels or infrastructure concerns worth monitoring.

Violation Context

Greenwood County has recorded 1 health-based violation, meaning the water system experienced at least one exceedance of federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements. At 1.8 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is relatively low compared to many U.S. counties.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Greenwood County scores well above average for drinking-water safety. Greenwood County's drinking-water compliance score is 68.2 out of 100. With 1 recorded health violation, the water supply is generally reliable. The violation rate for Greenwood County is 1.8 per 100,000 people served. Households with infants, pregnant individuals, or immunocompromised members may want to use an NSF 53-certified pitcher filter as a low-cost precaution. There are 9 active water-quality monitoring sites in Greenwood County. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the SALUDA RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Greenwood County has water quality close to the average county in South Carolina. Its water score is within 3.3 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 Greenwood County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Greenwood County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Greenwood County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Greenwood County

Consumer Confidence Reports (SC)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in South Carolina

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

0.0%

0 of 2 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

9

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

2.6K

2,629 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

211cfs

May 14, 6:15 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

22%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

SALUDA RIVER NEAR WARE SHOALS, SC

USGS site
02163500
Drainage area
580 sq mi
Long-term mean
963 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 Greenwood 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 Greenwood County, South Carolina?
Greenwood County, South Carolina has a drinking-water quality grade of B with a score of 68.2/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 1 health-based drinking water violation over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.
Are there any water violations in Greenwood County?
Greenwood County has 1 health-based drinking water violation 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 Greenwood County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 0.0% of Greenwood County's 2 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 Greenwood County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 2,629 measurements from 9 monitoring sites in Greenwood 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 Greenwood County right now?
Greenwood County's primary USGS streamgage on the SALUDA RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 211 cubic feet per second — 22% of the long-term mean of 962.81 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 Greenwood County water compare to the South Carolina average?
Greenwood County's SDWIS water quality score of 68.2/100 is higher 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 Greenwood County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Greenwood County has a water quality grade of B (68.2/100). 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).
Does Greenwood County have clean drinking water?
Greenwood County has 1 health-based drinking water violation according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 68.2/100 and grade B, the county's drinking water has had some compliance issues but continues to be monitored. Note: drinking-water compliance speaks to the public water system, not necessarily to the watershed itself — check the Watershed Health zone for ATTAINS §303(d) data.
How does Greenwood County rank for water quality in South Carolina?
Greenwood County ranks #23 out of 46 counties in South Carolina by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 68.2/100, 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.

Counties with Similar Water Quality

Horry County

South Carolina

B

68.4

Water score

Laurens County

South Carolina

B

68.4

Water score

Oconee County

South Carolina

B

67.8

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 Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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