Water levels and flow rates in local streams, ponds and lakes may be lower than normal, but few Northwest Georgians risk having spigots run dry, authorities say.

"We have never had any problems with quality or quantity," said Lisa Lucy, office manager for the Walker County Water and Sewerage Authority. "There may be problems with pipes, sometimes, but the water is without question some of the area's best. And there is plenty of it."

Several years of drought have led to statewide restrictions on its nonessential use, but local authorities agree there is no shortage of palatable potable water in this corner of Georgia.

"All of North Georgia has great water," said Ricky Rey-nolds, water treatment supervisor for LaFayette. "I take it from home whenever I go somewhere. I don't drink water from outside Walker County."

Similar sentiments are nothing new.

"When I was a kid, my dad would fill jugs with Walker County water to take with us to Panama City," said Randall Haney, of Chickamauga. "We wouldn't drink their water."

Now superintendent of the Walker County Water Treatment Plant in Chickamauga, Mr. Haney takes pride in -- and continues to imbibe -- this region's water.

Aquifers flush

The Walker County Authority is permitted to pump 9.1 million gallons a day, though average daily production is about 5.2 million gallons, from wells in Chickamauga and Kensington. Roughly 11,000 customers get their tap water from these wells that reach about 200 feet to a Paleozoic limestone (Knox) aquifer and the New Alabama Aquifer, officials said.

"The northern part of the county is blessed with good water," Mr. Haney said. "The EPD (Georgia Environmental Protection Division) even tells us our raw water treatment pools look like swimming pools compared to what they're used to seeing."

The Chickamauga plant chlorinates the water to kill pathogenic organisms, passes it through diatomaceous earth filters to make it clear and adds fluoride to aid formation of strong teeth.

Water utilities, like electric utilities, provide service within a network that does not necessarily recognize municipal, county or state lines, according to officials.

Some residents in southern Walker County get water from the Trion-based Chattooga County Water District, while residents atop Lookout Mountain have Chattanooga-based Tennessee American Water Co. service.

Water lines cross city, county lines

Similar to how electric utilities operate on a grid that allows power to flow from one district to another if needed, water companies are interconnected.

Utilities of North Georgia have the capability to tie into Tennessee-American lines, gaining access to the Tennessee River, should they be forced to halt operations at their own treatment plant.

And Rossville, like Lookout Mountain, relies on Tennessee-American for all its needs, officials said.

Dade County residents drink water drawn from and discharged back into Lookout Creek. That creek starts in Valley Head, Ala., with branches flowing south toward Scottsboro, Ala., and north to Chattanooga and the Tennessee River.

"We just borrow it and pass it on," said Doug Anderton, general manager of the Dade County Water Authority.

The creek flows between Lookout and Sand mountains and the water that is treated in Trenton is pumped to both those mountains and the valley, he said.

"The volume at our intake is 8-11 million gallons a day," Mr. Anderton said. "Even during the worst of the drought last August we never dropped below 8 million gallons a day."

taps should never run dry

Most areas have backup plans to continue constant supply.

In addition to its two 180-foot-deep wells, LaFayette buys water from Walker and Catoosa counties, Mr. Reynolds said.

That's because the watershed changes near Noble, which is midway between Rock Spring and LaFayette. The northern portion of Walker County drains toward the Tennessee River basin; the southern portion is part of the Coosa River basin that stretches toward Rome.

"With the drought decreasing flow (in the Coosa basin) we are buying more water, about 1 million gallons a day, from Walker County," Mr. Reynolds said.

Regardless of its origin, local water supplies are consistently tested to determine the presence of any radioactive, biological, inorganic, volatile organic or synthetic organic contaminants.

Private wells provide drinking water in some of the more rural areas, but "city water" is available to most residents, officials say. The state recognizes water as a public resource, but its distribution can be handled by for-profit businesses or by nonprofit public utilities.

Large or small, ample water for all

Even a relatively small and rural area like Chattooga County can have multiple providers.

In addition to its 2,060 customers, Charlotte Stowe, office manager for the Chattooga County Water District, said the towns of Trion, Summerville, Menlo and Lylerly each have their own water treatment facilities.

"The district has never had a violation of quality standards," Ms. Stowe said. "We haven't had a rate increase since 2004, it is still $10.25 for the first 2,000 gallons, but supplying water is expensive."

The statewide restrictions on water use are having an effect, even in water-rich North Georgia, according to Mr. Reynolds. "We've noticed conservation, people have cut back on water use," he said. "We should be thankful for our good water. Someday it will be as expensive as gas."