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Federal water data

County water report

Iron County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Iron County, Wisconsin.

Water grade

F

Water score

19.1

State rank

#64

of 71

Health violations

5

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

1.1%

891 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

79

31,718 recent measurements

Live streamflow

127%

BEAR RIVER NEAR MANITOWISH WATERS, WI

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Iron County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

F

Score: 19.1 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

5

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

1% impaired

891 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

127% of mean

BEAR RIVER NEAR MANITOWISH WATERS, WI

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

79

31,718 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

F

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

19.1/100

Health violations

5

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

140.3

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Iron County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Iron County's water systems carry a failing grade, scoring 19.1 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 5 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 small share — 1.1% — of assessed waterways are impaired (10 of 891 water bodies) across Iron County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are mercury and cause unknown. 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 2026-05-14T13:15:00.000-05:00) puts BEAR RIVER at 83.6 cfs — flowing above its historical average at 127% 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. Iron County has extensive coverage with 79 active monitoring sites with 31,718 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 Iron County

Water Verdict

Iron County, Wisconsin receives a poor water quality assessment with a grade of F and a score of 19.1 out of 100. The water supply has documented quality issues. Residents are strongly encouraged to use filtered or bottled water for drinking and to stay informed about utility improvement plans. Separately, EPA ATTAINS assessments cover 891 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 1.1% listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act — a source-water measure that is tracked independently of tap-water compliance. At the most recent USGS reading, local streamflow was running above its historical mean at 126.7%.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Iron County, Wisconsin show 5 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 140.3 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: 31,718 water-quality results have been logged across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

Drinking-water compliance in Iron County is rated Grade F, reflecting significant health-based violations in the recent reporting period. Iron County's drinking-water compliance score is 19.1 out of 100. An NSF 53 or NSF 58-certified filter is recommended for drinking and cooking water. Check the Consumer Confidence Report from your utility to identify the specific contaminants and required corrective actions — utilities are legally required to notify customers of violations. Mercury is the leading impairment cause in Iron County's watershed. With 79 active water-quality monitoring sites in Iron County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the BEAR RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Iron County has poorer water quality than the average county in Wisconsin. Its water score is 20.4 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 Iron County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Mercury

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

  • 2

    Cause Unknown

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

  • 3

    Phosphorus (excess nutrients)

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Iron County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Iron County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Iron County

Consumer Confidence Reports (WI)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Wisconsin

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

1.1%

10 of 891 assessed

Mostly healthy

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    MERCURY

  • 2

    CAUSE UNKNOWN

  • 3

    PHOSPHORUS, TOTAL

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

79

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

32K

31,718 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Nutrient
  • Biological, Algae, Phytoplankton

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

83.6cfs

May 14, 6:15 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

127%

Above typical

Primary Streamgage

BEAR RIVER NEAR MANITOWISH WATERS, WI

USGS site
05357335
Drainage area
81.3 sq mi
Long-term mean
66.0 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 Iron 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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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Iron County, Wisconsin?
Iron County, Wisconsin has a drinking-water quality grade of F with a score of 19.1/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 5 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 Iron County?
Iron County has 5 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 Iron County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 1.1% of Iron County's 891 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (10 impaired). The top reported causes are MERCURY, CAUSE UNKNOWN, PHOSPHORUS, TOTAL. 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 Iron County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 31,718 measurements from 79 monitoring sites in Iron County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, Biological, Algae, Phytoplankton. 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 Iron County right now?
Iron County's primary USGS streamgage on the BEAR RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 83.6 cubic feet per second — 127% of the long-term mean of 65.99 cfs. Flow is within typical range for this gauge. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Iron County water compare to the Wisconsin average?
Iron County's SDWIS water quality score of 19.1/100 is lower than the Wisconsin state average of 39.5. The average water quality grade across Wisconsin is F, based on data from 71 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Iron County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Iron County has a water quality grade of F (19.1/100). 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 Iron County have clean drinking water?
Iron County has 5 health-based drinking water violations according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 19.1/100 and grade F, 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 Iron County rank for water quality in Wisconsin?
Iron County ranks #64 out of 71 counties in Wisconsin by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 19.1/100, 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

Waukesha County

Wisconsin

F

19.5

Water score

Marquette County

Wisconsin

F

20.0

Water score

Sawyer County

Wisconsin

F

17.9

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.

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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