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State profile · EPA SDWIS + UCMR5

Nebraska Drinking Water Quality

1,309 public water systems serve 1,798,088 people across Nebraska, with every Safe Drinking Water Act violation and UCMR5 PFAS result on record.

1,309
Water systems
49,989
Total violations
88.9%
Systems w/ a violation
98.1%
PFAS detection rate

The verdict

Across Nebraska, 1,164 of 1,309 water systems (88.9%) carry at least one EPA violation, and 52 of 53 UCMR5-tested systems show PFAS.

49,989
Total EPA violations on record
65%
Health-based (MCL / treatment)
88.9%
Systems with ≥1 violation
98.1%
UCMR5 PFAS detection rate
Water Systems
1,309
Total Violations
49,989
Violation Rate
88.9%
PFAS Detection
98.1%
52 of 53 tested

Violation Composition

How Nebraska's 49,989 violations break down by type, per EPA SDWIS classification.

Health-based (32,716) Monitoring/Reporting (17,273)
Metric Value Share
Public water systems1,309-
Population served1,798,088-
Total violations49,989100%
Health-based violations32,71665.4%
Systems with violations1,16488.9%
PFAS detection rate52 of 5398.1%

Health-based violations indicate the contaminant exceeded an EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) or treatment-technique requirement. Monitoring/reporting violations indicate procedural issues (missed tests, late reports) - not necessarily a contamination event.

Largest Water Systems

Metropolitan Utilities District
Omaha, NE · 660,000 served
12 violations
Lincoln, City Of
Lincoln, NE · 296,000 served
8 violations
Grand Island, City Of
Grand Island, NE · 51,478 served
11 violations
Papillion, City Of
Papillion, NE · 35,000 served
26 violations
Kearney, City Of
Kearney, NE · 34,000 served
37 violations
Fremont, City Of
Fremont, NE · 27,230 served
15 violations
Norfolk, City Of
Norfolk, NE · 26,147 served
7 violations
North Platte, City Of
North Platte, NE · 25,000 served
62 violations
Hastings, City Of
Hastings, NE · 24,927 served
60 violations
Columbus, City Of
Columbus, NE · 24,028 served
43 violations
Scottsbluff, City Of
Scottsbluff, NE · 14,282 served
39 violations
South Sioux City, City Of
South Sioux City, NE · 14,043 served
4 violations
Beatrice, City Of
Beatrice, NE · 12,220 served
41 violations
Lexington, City Of
Lexington, NE · 10,230 served
60 violations
Gretna, City Of
Gretna, NE · 8,661 served
58 violations
Gering, City Of
Gering, NE · 8,500 served
130 violations
York, City Of
York, NE · 8,091 served
57 violations
Alliance, City Of
Alliance, NE · 8,070 served
106 violations
Blair, City Of
Blair, NE · 8,000 served
112 violations
Seward, City Of
Seward, NE · 7,700 served
75 violations

Most Violations

#1 Adams, Village Of Adams
523
#2 Edgar, City Of Edgar
445
#3 College View Park Columbus
368
#4 Benkelman, City Of Benkelman
330
#5 Humphrey, City Of Humphrey
279
#6 North Loup, Village Of North Loup
271
#7 Riverton, Village Of Riverton
256
#8 Rogers, Village Of Rogers
237
#9 Cottonwood Meadows York
236
#10 Unl-Eastern Nebr Resrch & Extension Cntr Ithaca
235
#11 Steele City, Village Of Steele City
233
#12 Tournesol Ent LLC Dba Ctry View Campgrnd Ogallala
227
#13 Belden, Village Of Belden
225
#14 Waterbury, Village Of Waterbury
217
#15 Prosser, Village Of Hastings
211

Counties in Nebraska

Douglas
53 systems · 672,690 served · 882 violations
Lancaster
89 systems · 322,833 served · 2,037 violations
Hall
40 systems · 61,265 served · 1,039 violations
Sarpy
39 systems · 58,403 served · 1,069 violations
Buffalo
43 systems · 43,401 served · 1,147 violations
Madison
25 systems · 34,386 served · 573 violations
Lincoln
50 systems · 32,730 served · 1,287 violations
Dodge
17 systems · 32,386 served · 493 violations
Scotts Bluff
29 systems · 31,247 served · 1,712 violations
Adams
16 systems · 29,551 served · 598 violations
Platte
32 systems · 28,978 served · 1,819 violations
Cass
42 systems · 27,182 served · 1,450 violations
Dakota
10 systems · 23,417 served · 243 violations
Dawson
37 systems · 21,525 served · 823 violations
Washington
22 systems · 18,240 served · 770 violations
Gage
25 systems · 17,901 served · 1,344 violations
Saunders
39 systems · 16,197 served · 1,669 violations
Saline
17 systems · 15,025 served · 397 violations
Otoe
12 systems · 14,499 served · 441 violations
York
25 systems · 12,695 served · 1,441 violations
Seward
20 systems · 12,669 served · 1,155 violations
Cherry
18 systems · 10,718 served · 797 violations
Box Butte
8 systems · 9,104 served · 243 violations
Keith
43 systems · 8,984 served · 1,121 violations
Red Willow
8 systems · 8,653 served · 518 violations
Colfax
11 systems · 8,624 served · 701 violations
Dawes
16 systems · 8,335 served · 917 violations
Cheyenne
9 systems · 8,051 served · 540 violations
Cuming
8 systems · 8,009 served · 460 violations
Richardson
11 systems · 7,804 served · 678 violations

Showing top 30 of 93 counties.

View all 1,309 systems in Nebraska →

Drinking Water Guides

Is Your Tap Water Safe?

How to interpret water quality reports and know when to take action.
PFAS in Drinking Water

What forever chemicals are, EPA testing results, and 2024 standards.
Check Your Water System

Step-by-step guide to finding and understanding your local water data.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many water systems are in Nebraska? ▼
Nebraska has 1,309 public water systems serving approximately 1,798,088 people. These include community water systems, non-transient non-community systems, and transient non-community systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
How many drinking water violations are in Nebraska? ▼
Nebraska has 49,989 total drinking water violations on record, with 32,716 classified as health-based violations. 88.9% of water systems in the state have at least one violation.
Has PFAS been found in Nebraska drinking water? ▼
Of 53 water systems tested for PFAS in Nebraska, 52 had PFAS detected, a 98.1% detection rate. PFAS are persistent "forever chemicals" that do not break down in the environment.
What is the violation rate for Nebraska water systems? ▼
Nebraska's violation rate is 88.9%. This measures the percentage of public water systems that have at least one recorded violation in the EPA SDWIS database, including both health-based and monitoring/reporting violations.
Where does this Nebraska water data come from? ▼
All drinking water data comes from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) and the UCMR5 PFAS monitoring program. SDWIS is the federal database that tracks compliance for all public water systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Data Sources & Methodology

Drinking water violation data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS). PFAS testing data from the UCMR5 monitoring program. SDWIS tracks all public water systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

All states → | Most violations → | Compare counties →
Data sourced from EPA SDWIS and UCMR5 PFAS monitoring data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainWater Editorial

Every figure on PlainWater is rendered directly from EPA SDWIS drinking-water data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on EPA SDWIS data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.