Rutherford County, Tennessee: drinking water report. Rutherford County southeast of Nashville has about 341,000 residents in one of Tennessee's…
Rutherford County southeast of Nashville has about 341,000 residents in one of Tennessee's fastest-growing areas. Murfreesboro and Smyrna are the main communities. Consolidated Utility District of Rutherford County draws from Percy Priest Lake and the East Fork Stones River, supplemented by the J. Percy Priest Reservoir. The county's explosive suburban growth is transforming farmland into subdivisions at a rapid pace.
The Smyrna Airport (also home to Tennessee Air National Guard operations) has documented AFFF use. According to Tennessee DEC's 2024 PFAS investigation, monitoring wells near the airport show PFOS at 16 ppt. The contamination plume extends toward residential areas in the Smyrna-La Vergne corridor.
Percy Priest Lake receives urban runoff from the Nashville metro area and agricultural inputs from its watershed. A 2024 Tennessee DEC assessment found that the lake meets recreation standards but shows elevated phosphorus in several tributary arms. Treatment plants manage these inputs effectively, but the pace of development over the watershed is increasing stormwater contamination.
Rutherford County's rapid growth means water infrastructure is expanding fast. New developments are typically well-served by modern municipal systems. The primary localized concern is PFAS near the Smyrna Airport area.
Start by checking your water for data at your address. For most residents, a carbon filter addresses taste and disinfection byproducts. For those near the airport, reverse osmosis adds PFAS protection. Our water filter guide covers both approaches. Get your detailed report for local data, and visit our Tennessee page for statewide patterns.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Rutherford County, TN.
The EPA places Rutherford County, TN in Zone 1 - the EPA's highest-risk category, where the predicted average indoor radon level is above 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
20% of homes in Rutherford County, TN were built before 1980, and 3% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Rutherford County, TN averages 7.9 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide
7 public water systems serving Rutherford County, TN have EPA lead testing on record. The reported lead sample skews toward systems that already flagged a problem, so its exceedance rate is not directly comparable with other areas. 5 water systems serving Rutherford County, TN carry a health-based EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violation.
| Most-cited violation type | Systems affected |
|---|---|
| Surface Water Treatment Rule | 2 |
| Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule | 2 |
| Revised Total Coliform Rule | 1 |
| Total Coliform Rule | 1 |
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) | 1 |
Source: EPA Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile tap sampling and EPA SDWIS Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement records, aggregated from the public water systems serving this county. Figures are counts of water systems, not a test of any individual home or tap.