Snapshot

Small-system snapshot, October 2026

Pulled from EPA's public records on October 13, 2026

How far small community water systems have come on their service line inventories, state by state. Every figure is an exact count of what states have reported to EPA. Nothing is estimated or rounded except the percentages, which are shown to one decimal place.

All states and agencies

Active community water systems, all sizes49,342
Serving 10,000 people or fewer44,741
Of those, serving 3,300 or fewer39,745
Service lines those systems reported19,862,627
Lead status unknown4,325,243
Lead138,536
Galvanized requiring replacement287,243
Non-lead15,111,605

What stands out

Unknown lines as a share of lines reported21.8%
Small systems reporting at least one lead, galvanized or unknown line15,431
Small systems reporting at least one unknown line13,918
Small systems with no service line counts in EPA's records3,217
Small systems cited for the 2024 initial inventory (code 2E)4,574
Of those, still in violation on October 13, 20261,544

The 15 states with the most small systems

Community water systems serving 10,000 people or fewer. Scroll sideways on a phone to see every column. The full list of 66 states, territories, the Navajo Nation and EPA regions is in the CSV download.

Small community water systems by state, October 13, 2026Counts as reported to EPA. GRR means galvanized requiring replacement.
State	Systems serving 10,000 or fewer	Serving 3,300 or fewer	Service lines reported	Still unknown	Unknown share	Systems with lead, GRR or unknown lines	Cited for 2024 inventory (2E)	Still in violation
Texas	4,338	3,580	2,309,256	234,858	10.2%	1,145	1,010	247
California	2,370	2,161	737,600	101,904	13.8%	338	461	436
Washington	2,178	2,076	481,729	73,123	15.2%	650	0	0
New York	2,097	1,948	604,592	172,118	28.5%	748	27	27
North Carolina	1,828	1,699	615,298	166,220	27.0%	739	276	24
Pennsylvania	1,704	1,517	737,362	327,629	44.4%	773	0	0
Georgia	1,615	1,492	518,185	116,109	22.4%	425	0	0
Illinois	1,562	1,340	970,880	129,847	13.4%	404	138	50
Missouri	1,354	1,222	641,372	247,642	38.6%	715	0	0
Florida	1,340	1,208	538,201	82,898	15.4%	322	0	0
Michigan	1,238	1,089	622,953	56,340	9.0%	292	134	23
Iowa	1,031	943	470,490	65,080	13.8%	467	0	0
Virginia	985	905	373,028	86,328	23.1%	439	0	0
Ohio	966	809	637,758	183,055	28.7%	351	129	16
Colorado	962	883	310,100	36,475	11.8%	129	42	12
All states and agencies	44,741	39,745	19,862,627	4,325,243	21.8%	15,431	4,574	1,544

Download all 66 states and agencies (CSV) Get the free gap check for your system

Read these numbers with care

These are the counts states have reported to EPA. A system can be further along than its federal record shows.
27 of the 66 states and agencies show no 2E violations at all, including Washington, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Missouri and Florida. That most likely reflects how those states report, not that every system met the deadline.
EPA's 2024 compliance report counted 3,902 systems of all types with this violation. EPA's database now holds more 2E records, most likely because states kept reporting after that report was compiled.
The unknown share is calculated from systems that reported a total line count. 3,217 small systems have no counts in the federal record, and 867 reported some categories but not all.
"Systems with lead, GRR or unknown lines" uses the counts reported so far. Under the 2024 rule, any system with at least one such line in its baseline inventory needs a replacement plan.
This snapshot is not a finding about any system. For your own system, ask for the free gap check.

Method

Systems. Every active community water system (49,342) from EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System, through the free Envirofacts service: Envirofacts WATER_SYSTEM count query. "Small" means a population served of 10,000 or fewer, as recorded by EPA.
Service lines. The "Service Line Inventory" report in EPA's SDWIS Federal Reports, which lists each system's reported counts of lead, galvanized requiring replacement, lead status unknown and non-lead lines (submission quarter 2026Q3): SDWIS Service Line Inventory report.
Violations. Every SDWIS violation with code 2E, which EPA's data dictionary defines as a lead service line inventory treatment technique violation, including failure to complete the initial inventory by October 16, 2024. "Still in violation" means compliance status Open or Known, which the dictionary describes as still in noncompliance: Envirofacts 2E violation count; SDWIS data dictionary. The inventory report has its own 2E column, but it read "N" for every system on the day we pulled it, so we used the violation records instead.
States. Systems are grouped by the agency that regulates them, which is the first two characters of the PWSID. Systems in Indian country appear under the EPA region that oversees them, or under the Navajo Nation.
Counts. Each system is counted once. Each service line is counted once, as reported. No figure is rounded, estimated or adjusted; percentages are shown to one decimal place.

Raw pulls and the counting script are kept on file and are available on request.