How many public water systems are in North Dakota?

North Dakota has 403 active public water systems in EPA SDWIS records, including 317 community water systems. Together they report serving 751.1K people.

What is the largest water system in North Dakota?

Fargo City of is the largest active public water system in North Dakota, serving a reported 120,762 people.

Does North Dakota rely more on groundwater or surface water?

74.4% of North Dakota's active public water systems draw primarily on groundwater and 25.6% on surface water (including purchased supplies).

North Dakota public water systems

403 active systems regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, serving a reported 751.1K people across 61 counties.

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

Active systems

403

Population served

751.1K

Community systems

317

Groundwater share

74.4%

System types in North Dakota

317

Community water system

Non-transient non-community water system

Transient non-community water system

Largest water systems in North Dakota

The largest active public water systems in North Dakota by population served
#	Water system	County	Population served	Type	Source
1	Fargo City of	Cass	120,762	Community	Surface water
2	Bismarck City of	Burleigh	72,417	Community	Groundwater under influence of surface water
3	Grand Forks Regional WTP	Grand Forks	57,339	Community	Surface water
4	Minot City of	Ward	48,743	Community	Groundwater
5	West Fargo City of	Cass	34,858	Community	Purchased surface water
6	Williston City of	Williams	26,426	Community	Surface water
7	Dickinson City of	Stark	25,679	Community	Purchased surface water
8	Mandan City of	Morton	21,769	Community	Surface water
9	Jamestown City of	Stutsman	15,427	Community	Groundwater
10	Belcourt-Turtle Mtn Rural Water System	—	13,500	Community	Groundwater
11	South Central Rwd North Burleigh	Burleigh	10,400	Community	Groundwater under influence of surface water
12	Southwest Water Authority	Stark	8,537	Community	Surface water
13	Wahpeton City of	Richland	7,766	Community	Groundwater
14	North Prairie Rwd-System 1&2	Ward	7,748	Community	Purchased groundwater
15	Devils Lake City of	Ramsey	7,141	Community	Groundwater
16	Standing Rock Rural Water System	—	6,839	Community	Surface water
17	Valley City City of	Barnes	6,585	Community	Surface water
18	Watford City City of	McKenzie	6,390	Community	Purchased surface water
19	East Central Regional Wd-Gf	Grand Forks	5,995	Community	Groundwater
20	Stutsman Rural Water District	Stutsman	5,550	Community	Groundwater
21	Greater Ramsey Water District	Ramsey	5,280	Community	Groundwater
22	Northwest Rural Water District	Williams	5,102	Community	Purchased surface water
23	Barnes Rural Water District	Barnes	4,938	Community	Groundwater
24	Spirit Lake Water Management Rws	—	4,400	Community	Groundwater
25	Missouri West Water System	Morton	4,303	Community	Purchased surface water

By county

Cass27 systems Bottineau21 systems Williams19 systems Richland14 systems Ward14 systems McLean13 systems Morton13 systems Burleigh12 systems McKenzie12 systems LaMoure10 systems Mercer10 systems Barnes9 systems Grand Forks9 systems Stutsman9 systems Dickey8 systems Pembina8 systems Stark8 systems Burke7 systems Dunn7 systems McHenry7 systems Rolette7 systems Becker6 systems Benson6 systems Emmons6 systems Nelson6 systems Wells6 systems Billings5 systems Cavalier5 systems Grant5 systems Griggs5 systems McIntosh5 systems Ransom5 systems Sargent5 systems Traill5 systems Walsh5 systems Clay4 systems Otter Tail4 systems Mountrail4 systems Bowman3 systems Divide3 systems Foster3 systems Golden Valley3 systems Hettinger3 systems Kidder3 systems Pierce3 systems Ramsey3 systems Renville3 systems Steele3 systems Towner3 systems

Polk2 systems

Adams2 systems

Eddy2 systems

Logan2 systems

Oliver2 systems

Sheridan2 systems

Arenac1 systems

Tuscola1 systems

Hubbard1 systems

Pennington1 systems

Roseau1 systems

Slope1 systems