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County water report

Surry County Water Report

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

Water grade

A

Water score

86.0

State rank

#39

of 95

Health violations

0

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

64.6%

65 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

10

2,528 recent measurements

Live streamflow

3%

BLACKWATER RIVER NEAR DENDRON, VA

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Surry County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

A

Score: 86.0 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

0

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

65% impaired

65 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

3% of mean

BLACKWATER RIVER NEAR DENDRON, VA

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

10

2,528 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 Surry County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Surry 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 large majority — 64.6% — of assessed waterways are impaired (42 of 65 water bodies) across Surry County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are mercury in fish tissue 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 2026-05-14T14:45:00.000-04:00) puts BLACKWATER RIVER at 7.7 cfs — well below its long-term average at 3% 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. Surry County has moderate coverage with 10 active monitoring sites with 2,528 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 Surry County

Water Verdict

Surry 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

Surry 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

Tap water in Surry County has a clean compliance record with no health-based violations detected. Surry County's drinking-water compliance score is 86.0 out of 100. Mercury appears as a watershed impairment cause, which typically reflects fish-tissue accumulation rather than tap-water exposure. If you consume locally caught fish, consult your state's fish advisory. For drinking water, the current record supports confidence in the tap. There are 10 active water-quality monitoring sites in Surry County. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the BLACKWATER RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Surry County has better water quality than the average county in Virginia. Its water score is 28.3 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 Surry County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Mercury (fish tissue)

    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

    Aquatic Plants (Macrophytes)

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Surry County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Surry County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Surry County

Consumer Confidence Reports (VA)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Virginia

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

64.6%

42 of 65 assessed

High concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    MERCURY IN FISH TISSUE

  • 2

    ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI)

  • 3

    AQUATIC PLANTS (MACROPHYTES)

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

10

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

2.5K

2,528 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).

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

7.66cfs

May 14, 6:45 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

3%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

BLACKWATER RIVER NEAR DENDRON, VA

USGS site
02047500
Drainage area
290 sq mi
Long-term mean
310 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 Surry 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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Surry 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 Surry County, Virginia?
Surry County, Virginia 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 Surry County?
Surry 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 Surry County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 64.6% of Surry County's 65 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (42 impaired). The top reported causes are MERCURY IN FISH TISSUE, ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI), AQUATIC PLANTS (MACROPHYTES). 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 Surry County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 2,528 measurements from 10 monitoring sites in Surry 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.
What's happening with rivers in Surry County right now?
Surry County's primary USGS streamgage on the BLACKWATER RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 7.66 cubic feet per second — 3% of the long-term mean of 310.27 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 Surry County water compare to the Virginia average?
Surry County's SDWIS water quality score of 86.0/100 is higher 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 Surry County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Surry 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 Surry County have clean drinking water?
Surry 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 Surry County rank for water quality in Virginia?
Surry County ranks #39 out of 95 counties in Virginia by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 86.0/100, 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

Albemarle County

Virginia

A

86.0

Water score

Amelia County

Virginia

A

86.0

Water score

Appomattox County

Virginia

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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