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County water report

Fayette County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Fayette County, Tennessee.

Water grade

A

Water score

86.0

State rank

#18

of 95

Health violations

0

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

48.4%

91 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

48

7,384 recent measurements

Live streamflow

94%

WOLF RIVER AT ROSSVILLE, TN

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Fayette County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

A

Score: 86.0 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

0

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

48% impaired

91 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

94% of mean

WOLF RIVER AT ROSSVILLE, TN

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

48

7,384 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

A

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

86.0/100

Health violations

0

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

0.0

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Fayette County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Fayette County earns an A grade for drinking water quality, scoring 86.0 out of 100. EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) records zero health-based violations over the past five years — a strong compliance signal for a mid-sized county.

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). A substantial 48.4% of assessed waterways are impaired (44 of 91 water bodies) across Fayette County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are physical substrate habitat alterations and escherichia coli (e. coli). 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 2026-05-14T14:00:00.000-05:00) puts WOLF RIVER at 632.0 cfs — near its historical average at 94% of mean flow. 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. Fayette County has moderate coverage with 48 active monitoring sites with 7,384 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and inorganics, minor, metals. 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 Fayette County

Water Verdict

Fayette County receives an excellent water quality assessment with a grade of A and a score of 86.0 out of 100. The water supply meets or exceeds federal safety standards, and residents can generally drink tap water with confidence.

Violation Context

Fayette County has recorded zero health-based violations, indicating no recent health-based violations in the reporting period. The violation rate is zero per 100,000 people served, which is the best possible outcome.

Consumer Guidance

The EPA compliance record for Fayette County shows no recent health-based violations. No health-based violations have been recorded, placing Fayette County in the top tier for drinking-water safety. Fayette County's drinking-water compliance score is 86.0 out of 100. As a routine precaution, requesting your utility's annual Consumer Confidence Report each July gives you a full list of detected contaminants and their treatment levels. With 48 active water-quality monitoring sites in Fayette County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the WOLF RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Fayette County has better water quality than the average county in Tennessee. Its water score is 14.7 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 Fayette County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Physical Substrate Habitat Alterations

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 2

    E. coli (bacteria)

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 3

    Sedimentation and siltation

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Fayette County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Fayette County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Fayette County

Consumer Confidence Reports (TN)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Tennessee

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

48.4%

44 of 91 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    PHYSICAL SUBSTRATE HABITAT ALTERATIONS

  • 2

    ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI)

  • 3

    SEDIMENTATION/SILTATION

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

48

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

7.4K

7,384 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Inorganics, Minor, Metals
  • 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

632cfs

May 14, 7:00 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

94%

Near typical

Primary Streamgage

WOLF RIVER AT ROSSVILLE, TN

USGS site
07030500
Drainage area
503 sq mi
Long-term mean
674 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 Fayette 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 →

Fayette County has good water quality

Learn about water restrictions and conservation in your area.

Water Restrictions →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Fayette County, Tennessee?
Fayette County, Tennessee has a drinking-water quality grade of A with a score of 86.0/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 0 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 Fayette County?
Fayette County has 0 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). Zero violations is an excellent record indicating consistent compliance with federal drinking water standards.
How healthy are the watersheds in Fayette County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 48.4% of Fayette County's 91 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (44 impaired). The top reported causes are PHYSICAL SUBSTRATE HABITAT ALTERATIONS, ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI), SEDIMENTATION/SILTATION. 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 Fayette County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 7,384 measurements from 48 monitoring sites in Fayette County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Inorganics, Minor, Metals, 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 Fayette County right now?
Fayette County's primary USGS streamgage on the WOLF RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 632 cubic feet per second — 94% of the long-term mean of 673.62 cfs. Flow is within typical range for this gauge. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Fayette County water compare to the Tennessee average?
Fayette County's SDWIS water quality score of 86.0/100 is higher than the Tennessee state average of 71.3. The average water quality grade across Tennessee is C, based on data from 95 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Fayette County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Fayette County has a water quality grade of A (86.0/100). 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 Fayette County have clean drinking water?
Fayette County has 0 health-based drinking water violations according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 86.0/100 and grade A, the county's drinking water meets EPA standards with no recorded health violations. 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 Fayette County rank for water quality in Tennessee?
Fayette County ranks #18 out of 95 counties in Tennessee by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 86.0/100, 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

Anderson County

Tennessee

A

86.0

Water score

Benton County

Tennessee

A

86.0

Water score

Bradley County

Tennessee

A

86.0

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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