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County water report

Gloucester County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Gloucester County, Virginia.

Water grade

D

Water score

42.9

State rank

#64

of 95

Health violations

3

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

72.4%

152 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

29

17,760 recent measurements

Live streamflow

No gauge

Primary USGS station not mapped

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Gloucester County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

D

Score: 42.9 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

3

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

72% impaired

152 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

No gauge

Primary USGS gauge not mapped

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

29

17,760 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

D

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

42.9/100

Health violations

3

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

26.9

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Gloucester County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Gloucester County's drinking water received a D grade, scoring 42.9 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 3 health-based violations — a small cluster that warrants attention.

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 large majority — 72.4% — of assessed waterways are impaired (110 of 152 water bodies) across Gloucester County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are aquatic plants (macrophytes) and dissolved oxygen. 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. Gloucester County has moderate coverage with 29 active monitoring sites with 17,760 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 Gloucester County

Water Verdict

Gloucester County, Virginia receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of D and a score of 42.9 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking. Separately, EPA ATTAINS assessments cover 152 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 72.4% listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act — a source-water measure that is tracked independently of tap-water compliance.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Gloucester County, Virginia show 3 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 26.9 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. This compliance record sits alongside an unusually deep monitoring archive: 17,760 water-quality results have been logged across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

Gloucester County's drinking-water compliance is below average with a Grade D, indicating repeated or unresolved violations in the recent record. Gloucester County's drinking-water compliance score is 42.9 out of 100. The violation rate for Gloucester County is 26.9 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. Aquatic Plants (Macrophytes) is the leading impairment cause in Gloucester County's watershed. With 29 active water-quality monitoring sites in Gloucester County, data coverage is strong.

Regional Context

Gloucester County has poorer water quality than the average county in Virginia. Its water score is 14.8 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 Gloucester County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Aquatic Plants (Macrophytes)

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

  • 2

    Low dissolved oxygen

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

  • 3

    Pcbs in Fish Tissue

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Gloucester County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Gloucester County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Gloucester County

Consumer Confidence Reports (VA)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Virginia

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

72.4%

110 of 152 assessed

High concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    AQUATIC PLANTS (MACROPHYTES)

  • 2

    DISSOLVED OXYGEN

  • 3

    PCBS IN FISH TISSUE

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

29

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

18K

17,760 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Nutrient
  • Microbiological

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

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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 Gloucester 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.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Gloucester County, Virginia?
Gloucester County, Virginia has a drinking-water quality grade of D with a score of 42.9/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 3 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 Gloucester County?
Gloucester County has 3 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 Gloucester County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 72.4% of Gloucester County's 152 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (110 impaired). The top reported causes are AQUATIC PLANTS (MACROPHYTES), DISSOLVED OXYGEN, PCBS IN FISH TISSUE. 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 Gloucester County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 17,760 measurements from 29 monitoring sites in Gloucester County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, Microbiological. 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 Gloucester County water compare to the Virginia average?
Gloucester County's SDWIS water quality score of 42.9/100 is lower than the Virginia state average of 57.7. The average water quality grade across Virginia is D, based on data from 95 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Gloucester County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Gloucester County has a water quality grade of D (42.9/100). 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).
Does Gloucester County have clean drinking water?
Gloucester County has 3 health-based drinking water violations according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 42.9/100 and grade D, 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 Gloucester County rank for water quality in Virginia?
Gloucester County ranks #64 out of 95 counties in Virginia by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 42.9/100, 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

Page County

Virginia

D

44.2

Water score

Franklin County

Virginia

D

44.6

Water score

Alleghany County

Virginia

D

45.6

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 Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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