County water report

Roane County Water Report

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

Water grade

Water score

46.5

State rank

#79

of 95

Health violations

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

36.5%

74 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

8,784 recent measurements

Live streamflow

No gauge

Primary USGS station not mapped

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Roane County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

Score: 46.5 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

37% impaired

74 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

No gauge

Primary USGS gauge not mapped

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

8,784 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.

46.5/100

Health violations

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

21.5

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

Roane County has 1 facility in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #1666 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSI

27.9

0-100 index

Facility count

0.0 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

-3.5

Compared with US county median

Named operators

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Mapped facilities

Frontier (supercomputer)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
OSM

See the Roane County data-center report Review methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

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

Facility size: 100 MW

1 MW1,000 MW

Cooling type

Utilization: 70%

40%100%

799K gallons/dayHigh Impact

Your facility would use 5319.7% of this county's industrial water baseline. Verify water rights and long-term drought projections before committing.

5319.7% of county industrial baseline

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 Roane County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Roane County's drinking water received a D grade, scoring 46.5 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 14 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). A substantial 36.5% of assessed waterways are impaired (27 of 74 water bodies) across Roane County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are escherichia coli (e. coli) and polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs). Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Roane County has extensive coverage with 57 active monitoring sites with 8,784 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and biological, counts. 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 Roane County

Water Verdict

Roane County receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of D and a score of 46.5 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking.

Violation Context

Roane County has recorded 14 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 21.5 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Roane County's drinking-water compliance is below average with a Grade D, indicating repeated or unresolved violations in the recent record. Roane County's drinking-water compliance score is 46.5 out of 100. The violation rate for Roane County is 21.5 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. E. coli is the leading impairment cause in Roane County's watershed. With 57 active water-quality monitoring sites in Roane County, data coverage is strong.

Regional Context

Roane County has poorer water quality than the average county in Tennessee. Its water score is 24.8 points lower than the state average, suggesting more challenges with contamination control or infrastructure than 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 Roane County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

1
E. coli (bacteria)
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment
2
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs)
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment
3
Mercury
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Roane County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Roane County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Roane County

Consumer Confidence Reports (TN)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Tennessee

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

36.5%

27 of 74 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

1
ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI)
2
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBS)
3
MERCURY

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

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

8.8K

8,784 total readings

Most Measured

Physical
Biological, Counts
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).

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 Roane 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 →

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Roane County, Tennessee?

Roane County, Tennessee has a drinking-water quality grade of D with a score of 46.5/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 14 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 Roane County?

Roane County has 14 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 Roane County?

EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 36.5% of Roane County's 74 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (27 impaired). The top reported causes are ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI), POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBS), MERCURY. 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 Roane County?

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 8,784 measurements from 57 monitoring sites in Roane County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Biological, Counts, 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.

How does Roane County water compare to the Tennessee average?

Roane County's SDWIS water quality score of 46.5/100 is lower 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 Roane County?

Based on EPA SDWIS data, Roane County has a water quality grade of D (46.5/100). 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 Roane County have so many water violations?

Roane County has 14 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 Roane County rank for water quality in Tennessee?

Roane County ranks #79 out of 95 counties in Tennessee by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 46.5/100, it falls in the bottom 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

Monroe County

Tennessee

49.4

Water score

Bledsoe County

Tennessee

42.5

Water score

Union County

Tennessee

50.5

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.

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

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