Abstract Water was sampled from flowing streams adjacent to dairy farms within South Carolina. Stream samplings were above, adjacent, and below the major animal waste drainage area. Disposal systems were lagooning, dry disposal, and liquid manure handling. Increases were small for fecal coliform, biochemical oxygen demand, and chemical oxygen demand between locations above and below. Ninety percent of water samplings exceeded fecal coliform standards of not more than 10/ml, 10% reflected a dissolved oxygen of less than 5 mg/liter, and 30% of tie samples had a pH below 6.0.