How many public water systems are in Nebraska?

Nebraska has 1,328 active public water systems in EPA SDWIS records, including 597 community water systems. Together they report serving 1.8M people.

What is the largest water system in Nebraska?

Metropolitan Utilities District is the largest active public water system in Nebraska, serving a reported 660,000 people.

95% of Nebraska's active public water systems draw primarily on groundwater and 5% on surface water (including purchased supplies).

1,328 active systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, serving a reported 1.8M people across 102 counties.

Dataset updated July 2026 . Source: EPA SDWIS/ECHO, refreshed quarterly.

Active systems

1,328

Population served

1.8M

Community systems

597

Groundwater share

95%

597

Community water system

139

Non-transient non-community water system

592

Transient non-community water system

The largest active public water systems in Nebraska by population served
#	Water system	County	Population served	Type	Source
1	Metropolitan Utilities District	Douglas	660,000	Community	Surface water
2	Lincoln, City of	Lancaster	296,000	Community	Groundwater under influence of surface water
3	Grand Island, City of	Hall	51,478	Community	Groundwater
4	Papillion, City of	Sarpy	35,000	Community	Groundwater
5	Kearney, City of	Buffalo	34,000	Community	Groundwater under influence of surface water
6	Fremont, City of	Dodge	27,230	Community	Groundwater
7	Norfolk, City of	Madison	26,147	Community	Groundwater
8	North Platte, City of	Lincoln	25,000	Community	Groundwater
9	Hastings, City of	Adams	24,927	Community	Groundwater
10	Columbus, City of	Platte	24,028	Community	Groundwater
11	Scottsbluff, City of	Scotts Bluff	14,282	Community	Groundwater
12	South Sioux City, City of	Dakota	14,043	Community	Purchased groundwater under influence
13	Beatrice, City of	Gage	12,220	Community	Groundwater
14	Lexington, City of	Dawson	10,348	Community	Groundwater
15	Gretna, City of	Sarpy	8,661	Community	Groundwater
16	Gering, City of	Scotts Bluff	8,500	Community	Groundwater
17	York, City of	York	8,091	Community	Groundwater
18	Alliance, City of	Box Butte	8,070	Community	Groundwater
19	Blair, City of	Washington	8,000	Community	Surface water
20	Seward, City of	Seward	7,700	Community	Groundwater
21	Crete, City of	Saline	7,566	Community	Groundwater
22	Mccook, City of	Red Willow	7,450	Community	Groundwater
23	Nebraska City, City of	Otoe	7,414	Community	Groundwater under influence of surface water
24	Sidney, City of	Cheyenne	6,720	Community	Groundwater
25	Plattsmouth, City of	Cass	6,680	Community	Groundwater

Banner2 systems

Hayes2 systems

Logan2 systems

Grant2 systems

Deuel2 systems

Kinney2 systems

Itasca1 systems

Becker1 systems

Grimes1 systems

Stone1 systems

Mathews1 systems

Umatilla1 systems

Seminole1 systems

Dallam1 systems

Blaine1 systems

Moffat1 systems

Keya Paha1 systems