What is the Munimetric score for Rhode Island?

Munimetric assigns a state-level average MISI score based on the individual scores of all covered community water systems in Rhode Island. The state average, band distribution, and market-level rankings are shown on this page. Higher MISI values indicate greater structural stress.

Which water systems in Rhode Island face the most infrastructure stress?

The state page ranks the highest-stress systems in Rhode Island by MISI score. Stress reflects operational burden, capital gaps, revenue fragility, rate affordability constraints, and governance risk, not a single compliance event. The headline remains a blended structural stress composite rather than a pure physical-condition index. Workflow actions remain reserved for account access.

How does Rhode Island compare to other states for drinking water infrastructure risk?

Rhode Island is compared against all 50 states and territories using average MISI score, market count, and band distribution. Munimetric tracks nationwide coverage across 9,000+ scored service markets.

Are there lead pipe or corrosion-related concerns in Rhode Island water systems?

Where lead and copper rule compliance data is available from EPA SDWA records, Munimetric factors it into the Operational Stress family score. Specific lead service line inventories vary by system. Individual system profiles contain the most detailed compliance context available.

Does Munimetric include PFAS monitoring context for Rhode Island water systems?

Munimetric summarizes stored PFAS monitoring context where public contaminant-monitoring records are available. Missing PFAS summaries remain missing records, not non-detections, and this public-record layer does not change the MISI score by itself.

What compliance signals are active in Rhode Island?

Munimetric tracks signals such as compliance escalation, monitoring and reporting failures, population decline, income erosion, data staleness, and parent-government fiscal stress across Rhode Island water systems.

Does Munimetric track boil water advisories in Rhode Island?

Munimetric does not track real-time boil water advisories. For current advisories, contact your local water utility or state drinking water program. Munimetric monitors structural conditions that provide context around system reliability over time.

How many covered systems in Rhode Island have recent recorded drinking-water violations?

Stored public records show 15 covered systems with recent drinking-water violations, with 194 recorded violations across 29 covered systems in the recent 3 years window.

How does Munimetric summarize PFAS public-record context in Rhode Island?

Stored contaminant-monitoring summaries are present for 25 covered systems; 13 systems have PFAS detection context in this state summary.

How does Munimetric summarize lead & copper context in Rhode Island?

Stored lead & copper summaries are present for 28 covered systems; 22 systems have violation or action-level context in this state summary.

What source-water types are represented across covered Rhode Island systems?

Stored identity records group covered Rhode Island systems by source-water type: Surface water: 17, Groundwater: 12.

Where can I find official drinking-water records for Rhode Island?

The Official records drawer lists Public drinking-water profile, Contaminant monitoring records links where currently available for Rhode Island.

Is this a real-time statewide tap-water condition rating?

No. This is not a real-time tap-water condition determination. Munimetric summarizes stored public-record context for research and navigation, and this layer does not change MISI.

States / Rhode Island

Rhode Island

Name: Rhode Island Drinking Water Infrastructure Stress Data
Creator: Munimetric
License: https://munimetric.com/terms

Explore Rhode Island drinking-water system scores, stress signals, infrastructure risk, and statewide market context across 29 scored service markets serving approximately 1.0 million people. This state profile highlights what is happening and why it matters using water-system, fiscal, capital, and signal context.

Rhode Island has an average MISI infrastructure stress score of 27.8/100 in the Watch band as of 2026-07-02. Public records summarize recent drinking-water violations, PFAS monitoring records, lead and copper context, and source-water mix across 29 covered systems. Updated May 2026.

National context

States sized by scored-market count. Color reflects average stress band.

29Markets scored

27.8Headline composite

~1.0MPop. served

145Active signals

Band distribution (MISI)

State headline composite

Component of current headline composite

Infrastructure Stress22.6 / 100

Physical, compliance, and capital-execution pressure reflected in the blended headline composite.

Socioeconomic Stress3.9 / 100

Affordability, demand-base, and parent-government fiscal pressure reflected in the blended headline composite.

Observability Stress1.3 / 100

Staleness, disclosure freshness, and reporting-visibility effects reflected in the blended headline composite.

27.8 headline compositeRhode Island state composite29 markets~1.0M people served

Providence-City of39.3watch Pawtucket-City of38.7watch North Kingstown Town of38.6watch Woonsocket Water Department37.7watch Naval Station, Newport35.3watch University of Rhode Island34.2watch United Water Rhode Island34.2watch Westerly Water Department32.6watch Narragansett Water Dept.-North End32.6watch Narragansett Water System-Point Judith32.6watch Block Island Water Company32.1watch Johnston Water Ctrl Fac. - West End32.0watch South Kingstown-South Shore30.7watch Kingston Water District30.1watch Cumberland, Town of29.1watch East Smithfield Water District27.6watch Greenville Water District27.6watch East Providence-City of27.1watch Bristol County Water Authority24.0watch Smithfield Water Supply Board24.0watch Warwick-City of24.0watch Newport-City of23.9watch Portsmouth Water & Fire District23.8watch Pascoag Utility District, Water Division22.2watch Lincoln Water Commission20.1watch Kent County Water Authority20.1watch Centre of New England Boulevard13.1stable Quonset Business Park12.7stable North Tiverton Fire District6.0stable Providence-City of39.3watch Pawtucket-City of38.7watch North Kingstown Town of38.6watch Woonsocket Water Department37.7watch Naval Station, Newport35.3watch University of Rhode Island34.2watch United Water Rhode Island34.2watch Westerly Water Department32.6watch Narragansett Water Dept.-North End32.6watch Narragansett Water System-Point Judith32.6watch Block Island Water Company32.1watch Johnston Water Ctrl Fac. - West End32.0watch South Kingstown-South Shore30.7watch Kingston Water District30.1watch Cumberland, Town of29.1watch East Smithfield Water District27.6watch Greenville Water District27.6watch East Providence-City of27.1watch Bristol County Water Authority24.0watch Smithfield Water Supply Board24.0watch Warwick-City of24.0watch Newport-City of23.9watch Portsmouth Water & Fire District23.8watch Pascoag Utility District, Water Division22.2watch Lincoln Water Commission20.1watch Kent County Water Authority20.1watch Centre of New England Boulevard13.1stable Quonset Business Park12.7stable North Tiverton Fire District6.0stable

State interpretation guide

How to read Rhode Island headline composite

Plain-language summary

Rhode Island currently shows an average MISI headline composite of 27.8 versus a national average of 24.5. In v0.1.2, the headline composite remains a blended structural stress measure rather than a pure physical-condition index. A frozen national reference and a 50 percent single-factor cap reduce the dominance of near-universal and very rare factors, while the component bars continue to separate infrastructure, socioeconomic, and observability readings.

Why this page stands out

29 scored systems are included in this state view, with explicit confidence and source-backed context.
State posture is benchmarked against national averages, not evaluated in isolation.
Top system links below connect state-level findings directly to profile-level diagnostics.

What to do next

Review the executive context to understand the state-level pressure pattern.
Open top system profiles to inspect what is actually driving stress at market level.
Use saved monitoring after research access is enabled to follow high-stress systems over time.

Priority Rhode Island paths

Public record layer

Statewide Water Quality Context

Stored public-record context for recent drinking-water violations, contaminant monitoring, and source-water mix across covered systems. This is not a tap-water safety determination and does not change the MISI score.

Systems with recent violations

15 of 29Systems with recent public violation rows.

Source-water mix29 systems

Surface water17
Groundwater12
Purchased water0
Mixed source0
Not stored0

Latest identity snapshot: Dec 31, 2025

Coverage

Violation, enforcement, and compliance-burden counts use the recent 3 years window for dated stored records.
Drinking-water identity snapshots are stored for 28 of 29 included scored systems.
PFAS monitoring summary records are stored for 25 of 29 included systems; missing records are not treated as non-detections.
Lead and copper summary records are stored for 28 of 29 included systems; missing records are not treated as absence of lead/copper context.

Water quality questionsDefinitions and public-record context

How many covered systems in Rhode Island have recent recorded drinking-water violations?: Stored public records show 15 covered systems with recent drinking-water violations, with 194 recorded violations across 29 covered systems in the recent 3 years window.
How does Munimetric summarize PFAS public-record context in Rhode Island?: Stored contaminant-monitoring summaries are present for 25 covered systems; 13 systems have PFAS detection context in this state summary.
How does Munimetric summarize lead & copper context in Rhode Island?: Stored lead & copper summaries are present for 28 covered systems; 22 systems have violation or action-level context in this state summary.
What source-water types are represented across covered Rhode Island systems?: Stored identity records group covered Rhode Island systems by source-water type: Surface water: 17, Groundwater: 12.
Where can I find official drinking-water records for Rhode Island?: The Official records drawer lists Public drinking-water profile, Contaminant monitoring records links where currently available for Rhode Island.
Is this a real-time statewide tap-water condition rating?: No. This is not a real-time tap-water condition determination. Munimetric summarizes stored public-record context for research and navigation, and this layer does not change MISI.

Official records

Public drinking-water profileEPA ECHO: Federal drinking-water dashboard and public-record search entry point.
Contaminant monitoring recordsEPA UCMR: Federal contaminant-monitoring program reference and public data entry point.

Methodology/source notes

Methodology/source notesDisplayed from stored public drinking-water records and official program references. This layer does not change MISI.
Enforcement historyEPA ECHO / SDWIS: Violation and enforcement counts are aggregated from stored public compliance records across covered systems.
Contaminant monitoring recordsEPA UCMR: PFAS context uses stored contaminant-monitoring summaries where available; missing records are not treated as non-detections.
State drinking-water programOfficial link not currently stored for this state program mapping.

Top recent compliance-burden systemsRecent 3 years

System	Population	Source water	Recent violations	Recent enforcement	Public-record flags
Kingston Water DistrictRI1858421	3,968	Groundwater	78	20	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records
Westerly Water DepartmentRI1559512	35,298	Groundwater	44	28	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records, lead/copper context
Block Island Water CompanyRI1858430	9,999	Groundwater	24	10	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, lead/copper context
Newport-City OfRI1592010	42,155	Surface water	6	22	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records, lead/copper context
Cne - New London Turnpike Entry PointRI2980453	9,999	Groundwater	6	10	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures
Veolia Water Wakefield Rhode Island IncRI1615624	22,347	Groundwater	5	22	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, lead/copper context
Narragansett Water System-Point JudithRI1858428	8,210	Groundwater	5	12	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, lead/copper context
Portsmouth Water & Fire DistrictRI1592022	17,090	Surface water	4	24	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, lead/copper context

This is not a real-time tap-water condition determination. For current advisories or health guidance, consult the utility or state drinking-water program.

Executive context

What This Page Shows

29 of the community drinking-water systems in Rhode Island are currently scored. Analytics below are calculated from this covered subset only. Covered systems serve approximately 1.0M people.

What the Data Suggests

Rhode Island has 29 scored service markets in the Munimetric coverage set, covering roughly 1.0 million residents in total. At the latest reading, the state-level average lands at 27.8 out of 100, indicating early but meaningful signs of structural stress in aggregate. No markets currently sit in elevated-stress bands.

Across state markets, Operational Stress stands out as the dominant contributor to headline stress (13.5 points average), with Capex Pressure a distant second at 9.1. That pattern suggests a particular kind of pressure — concentrated rather than broadly distributed.

145 active signals are recorded across state markets. The most prevalent is Current Drought Severity, affecting 29 markets.

State-level average stress has been relatively steady between recent observation periods, suggesting the current picture reflects persistent conditions rather than a sudden shift.

This summary is based on structured, source-backed public data and is intended for research and monitoring only. It is not investment advice, a credit opinion, or municipal advisory guidance.

Score was 27.6 in Jul → 27.8 in Jul: +0.2 from Operational Stress family

Recent Movement

Latest average MISI is 27.8 as of Jul 2, 2026. Movement since Jul 1, 2026 is +0.2.

Compact summary from 63 stored state observations.

State Family Contribution Summary

Operational Stress13.5 / 20.0

Capex Pressure9.1 / 20.0

Revenue Fragility3.9 / 20.0

Governance Risk1.3 / 20.0

Rate Constraint0.0 / 20.0

Signals

Signal Frequency

Signal	Severity	Markets affected	% of scored
Current Drought Severity	high	29	100%
Climate Hazard Exposure	high	24	83%
Lead & Copper Rule Risk	high	22	76%
Compliance Escalation	high	22	76%
PFAS Contamination Risk	high	13	45%
High-AGI Out-Migration	high	11	38%
Housing Market Weakness	medium	11	38%
Utility Data Staleness	high	7	24%
Infrastructure Capital Gap	high	3	10%
Monitoring / Reporting Failures	medium	3	10%

Markets

Top Markets

#	Market	Score	Band	Population	Signals
1	Providence-City of	39.3	Watch	333K	6
2	Pawtucket-City of	38.7	Watch	98K	8
3	North Kingstown Town of	38.6	Watch	28K	6
4	Woonsocket Water Department	37.7	Watch	46K	7
5	Naval Station, Newport	35.3	Watch	8K	5
6	University of Rhode Island	34.2	Watch	19K	6
7	United Water Rhode Island	34.2	Watch	22K	6
8	Westerly Water Department	32.6	Watch	35K	6
9	Narragansett Water Dept.-North End	32.6	Watch	4K	6
10	Narragansett Water System-Point Judith	32.6	Watch	8K	5
11	Block Island Water Company	32.1	Watch	10K	6
12	Johnston Water Ctrl Fac. - West End	32.0	Watch	4K	5
13	South Kingstown-South Shore	30.7	Watch	6K	6
14	Kingston Water District	30.1	Watch	4K	6
15	Cumberland, Town of	29.1	Watch	21K	6
16	East Smithfield Water District	27.6	Watch	0	5
17	Greenville Water District	27.6	Watch	10K	5
18	East Providence-City of	27.1	Watch	48K	5
19	Bristol County Water Authority	24.0	Watch	49K	4
20	Smithfield Water Supply Board	24.0	Watch	9K	4

Comparison

State Comparison

National average: 24.5

Rank	State	Avg Score	Band	Markets	Delta vs State
12	South Carolina	28.1	Watch	155	+0.3
13	West Virginia	28.0	Watch	91	+0.2
14	Rhode Island	27.8	Watch	29	+0.0
15	Oregon	27.8	Watch	115	-0.0
16	District of Columbia	27.5	Watch	4	-0.3

Analytical posture

State Stress Analytics

Score Distribution

Distribution of scored market scores with the state average overlay.

29 markets plotted.

Stress vs Population

Each point is a scored market; tooltip reveals market-level context.

28 markets plotted.

Population View

People served by community water systems in Rhode Island, colored by stress band.

~1.0M people served by 29 systems in Rhode Island

Stable

Watch

Fragile

High Stress

Critical

29 scored systems · colored by stress band

Peer Constellation

Select a market to see its nearest peers by score similarity.

Center market:

24 nearest peers by score distance.

Score Trend

Latest

27.8

Trend

+21.8

Observations

Extended layers

Advanced State Context

Priority views, detailed registers, and methodology supporting the analytical core above.

Markets & signals

Priority Views

#	Market	Score	Band	Population	Signals
1	Providence-City of	39.3	Watch	333K	6
2	Pawtucket-City of	38.7	Watch	98K	8
3	North Kingstown Town of	38.6	Watch	28K	6
4	Woonsocket Water Department	37.7	Watch	46K	7
5	Naval Station, Newport	35.3	Watch	8K	5
6	University of Rhode Island	34.2	Watch	19K	6
7	United Water Rhode Island	34.2	Watch	22K	6
8	Westerly Water Department	32.6	Watch	35K	6
9	Narragansett Water Dept.-North End	32.6	Watch	4K	6
10	Narragansett Water System-Point Judith	32.6	Watch	8K	5
11	Block Island Water Company	32.1	Watch	10K	6
12	Johnston Water Ctrl Fac. - West End	32.0	Watch	4K	5
13	South Kingstown-South Shore	30.7	Watch	6K	6
14	Kingston Water District	30.1	Watch	4K	6
15	Cumberland, Town of	29.1	Watch	21K	6
16	East Smithfield Water District	27.6	Watch	0	5
17	Greenville Water District	27.6	Watch	10K	5
18	East Providence-City of	27.1	Watch	48K	5
19	Bristol County Water Authority	24.0	Watch	49K	4
20	Smithfield Water Supply Board	24.0	Watch	9K	4

Detailed records

Registers

#	Market	Score	Band	Population	Signals
1	Providence-City of	39.3	Watch	333K	6
2	Pawtucket-City of	38.7	Watch	98K	8
3	North Kingstown Town of	38.6	Watch	28K	6
4	Woonsocket Water Department	37.7	Watch	46K	7
5	Naval Station, Newport	35.3	Watch	8K	5
6	University of Rhode Island	34.2	Watch	19K	6
7	United Water Rhode Island	34.2	Watch	22K	6
8	Westerly Water Department	32.6	Watch	35K	6
9	Narragansett Water Dept.-North End	32.6	Watch	4K	6
10	Narragansett Water System-Point Judith	32.6	Watch	8K	5
11	Block Island Water Company	32.1	Watch	10K	6
12	Johnston Water Ctrl Fac. - West End	32.0	Watch	4K	5
13	South Kingstown-South Shore	30.7	Watch	6K	6
14	Kingston Water District	30.1	Watch	4K	6
15	Cumberland, Town of	29.1	Watch	21K	6
16	East Smithfield Water District	27.6	Watch	0	5
17	Greenville Water District	27.6	Watch	10K	5
18	East Providence-City of	27.1	Watch	48K	5
19	Bristol County Water Authority	24.0	Watch	49K	4
20	Smithfield Water Supply Board	24.0	Watch	9K	4

Munimetric tracks infrastructure stress across 29 community drinking-water systems in Rhode Island, covering compliance conditions, capital needs, revenue and rate pressure, and governance risk. Use this page to research which systems face the highest structural stress and how Rhode Island compares nationally.

Which water systems in Rhode Island face the most infrastructure stress?: The highest-stress systems in Rhode Island are ranked by MISI score above. Stress reflects operational burden, capital gaps, revenue fragility, rate affordability constraints, and governance risk—not a single compliance event. In v0.1.2, the headline composite remains a blended structural stress measure rather than a pure physical-condition index. A frozen national reference and a 50 percent single-factor cap reduce the dominance of near-universal and very rare factors, while the component bars continue to separate infrastructure, socioeconomic, and observability readings.
How does Rhode Island compare to other states for drinking water infrastructure risk?: Rhode Island is compared against all 50 states and territories using average MISI score, market count, and band distribution. The state comparison table above shows where Rhode Island ranks nationally and how its average score compares.
Are there lead pipe or corrosion-related concerns in Rhode Island water systems?: Where lead and copper rule compliance data is available from EPA SDWA records, Munimetric factors it into the Operational Stress family. Specific lead service line inventories vary by system. Individual system profiles contain the most detailed compliance context available.
What compliance signals are active in Rhode Island?: Munimetric tracks signals such as compliance escalation, monitoring and reporting failures, data staleness, and financial stress indicators across Rhode Island systems. The signal frequency table above summarizes which signals are most prevalent statewide.
Does Munimetric track boil water advisories in Rhode Island?: Munimetric does not track real-time boil water advisories. For current advisories, contact your local water utility or state drinking water program. Munimetric monitors structural conditions—compliance posture, infrastructure stress, and governance risk—that provide broader context around system reliability.

Keep monitoring this state

Research access covers saved monitoring, alerts, recurring briefs, and team review.

Get the Water Stress Brief Request research access

Water Infrastructure in Rhode Island

Munimetric tracks infrastructure stress across 29 community drinking-water systems in Rhode Island. Each system receives a Munimetric Infrastructure Stress Index (MISI) score from 0 to 100, calculated across five risk families: Operational Stress, Capex Pressure, Revenue Fragility, Rate Constraint, and Governance Risk. Higher scores indicate more structural stress. Scores are source-backed and deterministic, drawing from EPA SDWA compliance records, American Community Survey demographic and economic data, FEMA National Risk Index hazard profiles, and state financial disclosures.

State-level monitoring shows which systems face the highest structural stress, how Rhode Island compares against other states nationally, and which monitoring signals are most active across the state. Each individual system profile includes compliance history, score family drivers, peer rankings within population-based cohorts where safeguards pass, and public source context. Full provenance cards and source workbench views remain workflow-gated. Munimetric covers community water systems across all 50 states and territories. This is structural risk research—not a water quality rating, advisory feed, or credit rating. Updated May 2026.

The statewide public-record layer adds drinking-water violation categories, PFAS monitoring summaries where stored, lead and copper context, source-water mix, and official record links across covered systems. These records help explain water-system context alongside infrastructure stress without turning Munimetric into a tap-water safety determination.

What is the Munimetric score for Rhode Island?: Munimetric assigns a state-level average MISI score based on the individual scores of all covered community water systems in Rhode Island. The state average, band distribution, and market-level rankings are shown on this page. Higher MISI values indicate greater structural stress.
Which water systems in Rhode Island face the most infrastructure stress?: The state page ranks the highest-stress systems in Rhode Island by MISI score. Stress reflects operational burden, capital gaps, revenue fragility, rate affordability constraints, and governance risk, not a single compliance event. The headline remains a blended structural stress composite rather than a pure physical-condition index. Workflow actions remain reserved for account access.
How does Rhode Island compare to other states for drinking water infrastructure risk?: Rhode Island is compared against all 50 states and territories using average MISI score, market count, and band distribution. Munimetric tracks nationwide coverage across 9,000+ scored service markets.
Are there lead pipe or corrosion-related concerns in Rhode Island water systems?: Where lead and copper rule compliance data is available from EPA SDWA records, Munimetric factors it into the Operational Stress family score. Specific lead service line inventories vary by system. Individual system profiles contain the most detailed compliance context available.
Does Munimetric include PFAS monitoring context for Rhode Island water systems?: Munimetric summarizes stored PFAS monitoring context where public contaminant-monitoring records are available. Missing PFAS summaries remain missing records, not non-detections, and this public-record layer does not change the MISI score by itself.
What compliance signals are active in Rhode Island?: Munimetric tracks signals such as compliance escalation, monitoring and reporting failures, population decline, income erosion, data staleness, and parent-government fiscal stress across Rhode Island water systems.
Does Munimetric track boil water advisories in Rhode Island?: Munimetric does not track real-time boil water advisories. For current advisories, contact your local water utility or state drinking water program. Munimetric monitors structural conditions that provide context around system reliability over time.