County water report

Montgomery County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Montgomery County, Texas.

Water grade

Water score

45.7

State rank

#70

of 254

Health violations

167

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

Not reported

EPA ATTAINS coverage varies by state

Monitoring sites

42,292 recent measurements

Live streamflow

110%

W Fk San Jacinto Rv abv Lk Houston nr Porter, TX

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Montgomery County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

Score: 45.7 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

167

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

Not reported

Coverage varies by state

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

110% of mean

W Fk San Jacinto Rv abv Lk Houston nr Porter, TX

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

42,292 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.

45.7/100

Health violations

167

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

22.7

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

Montgomery County has 2 facilities in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #985 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSI

45.4

0-100 index

Facility count

45.0 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

-4.3

Compared with US county median

Mapped facilities

OpenStreetMap data center 744177375
Facility details limited
OSM
Stream Data Centers Houston
The Woodlands
OSM

See the Montgomery County data-center report Review methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

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

Facility size: 100 MW

1 MW1,000 MW

Cooling type

Utilization: 70%

40%100%

799K gallons/dayHigh Impact

Your facility would use 18.9% of this county's industrial water baseline. Verify water rights and long-term drought projections before committing.

18.9% of county industrial baseline3.42 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 Montgomery County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Montgomery County's drinking water received a D grade, scoring 45.7 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 167 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 2026-05-14T13:45:00.000-05:00) puts W Fk San Jacinto Rv abv Lk Houston at 772.0 cfs — flowing above its historical average at 110% of mean. 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. Montgomery County has extensive coverage with 67 active monitoring sites with 42,292 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and inorganics, major, non-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 Montgomery County

Water Verdict

Montgomery County receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of D and a score of 45.7 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking.

Violation Context

Montgomery County has recorded 167 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 22.7 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Montgomery County's drinking-water compliance is below average with a Grade D, indicating repeated or unresolved violations in the recent record. Montgomery County's drinking-water compliance score is 45.7 out of 100. The violation rate for Montgomery County is 22.7 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. With 67 active water-quality monitoring sites in Montgomery County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the W Fk San Jacinto Rv abv Lk Houston gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Montgomery County has better water quality than the average county in Texas. Its water score is 15.3 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 Montgomery County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Montgomery County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Montgomery County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Montgomery County

Consumer Confidence Reports (TX)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Texas

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

42K

42,292 total readings

Most Measured

Physical
Inorganics, Major, Non-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

772cfs

May 14, 6:45 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

110%

Above typical

Primary Streamgage

W Fk San Jacinto Rv abv Lk Houston nr Porter, TX

USGS site: 08068090
Drainage area: 962 sq mi
Long-term mean: 700 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 Montgomery County:D — Poor

Elevated violations or significant watershed impairment.

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 Montgomery County, Texas?

Montgomery County, Texas has a drinking-water quality grade of D with a score of 45.7/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 167 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 Montgomery County?

Montgomery County has 167 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 Montgomery County?

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 42,292 measurements from 67 monitoring sites in Montgomery County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Inorganics, Major, Non-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 Montgomery County right now?

Montgomery County's primary USGS streamgage on the W Fk San Jacinto Rv abv Lk Houston has a pipeline snapshot of 772 cubic feet per second — 110% of the long-term mean of 700.23 cfs. Flow is within typical range for this gauge. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.

How does Montgomery County water compare to the Texas average?

Montgomery County's SDWIS water quality score of 45.7/100 is higher than the Texas state average of 30.4. The average water quality grade across Texas is F, based on data from 254 counties with available SDWIS data.

Is tap water safe to drink in Montgomery County?

Based on EPA SDWIS data, Montgomery County has a water quality grade of D (45.7/100). 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 Montgomery County have so many water violations?

Montgomery County has 167 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 Montgomery County rank for water quality in Texas?

Montgomery County ranks #70 out of 254 counties in Texas by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 45.7/100, 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

Lee County

Texas

45.6

Water score

Colorado County

Texas

45.9

Water score

Hansford County

Texas

45.9

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

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