{ "type": "water", "pwsid": "OH0802012", "name": "Brown County Rural Water", "county": "Brown", "population": 32090, "producer": true, "source_class": "groundwater", "label": "Ohio River Valley Aquifer (wells)", "bodies": [], "intakes": [], "wells": 13, "aquifer": "Ohio River Aquifer (sand-and-gravel river-valley aquifer)", "notes": "13 wells draw from the Ohio River Aquifer, a sand-and-gravel river-valley aquifer; Brown County's shale bedrock yields little groundwater elsewhere, making this the only viable aquifer for the area.", "urls": [ "https://www.bcrwa.org/blank-c1sv8", "https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/system.php?pws=OH0802012" ], "chain": [ "OH0802012" ], "plants": [ { "n": "Brown County Rural Water Association", "a": "3818 US Highway 52, Ripley, OH 45167", "la": 38.75, "lo": -83.85, "pt": "approximate", "wb": "Ohio River Valley (buried valley) Aquifer", "src": "13 active wells drawing from the buried-valley aquifer along the Ohio River near Ripley; specific well-field location not separately documented", "cls": "groundwater", "in": [ { "n": "Ripley well field (Ohio River valley wells)", "wb": "Ohio River Aquifer - a sand-and-gravel buried-valley aquifer along the Ohio River, recharged by river infiltration", "role": "primary", "src": "13 active wells drawing from river-valley sand and gravel near the Ripley plant on US-52; BCRWA's Wellhead Protection Committee manages this aquifer as the association's sole water source (13 wells)", "la": 38.75, "lo": -83.85, "pt": "plant", "wells": [ "Well 1", "Well 2", "Well 3", "Well 4", "Well 5", "Well 6", "Well 7", "Well 8", "Well 9", "Well 10", "Well 11", "Well 12", "Well 13" ] } ] } ], "facts": { "hist": [ [ "early 1970s", "Citizen groups in Feesburg and Sardinia, whose outlying areas still relied on wells and cisterns, merged to form BCRWA as a private nonprofit." ], [ "early 1970s", "BCRWA organized as a nonprofit association specifically to qualify for Farmers Home Administration loans to build rural water lines." ], [ "1999", "BCRWA formed its Wellhead Protection Committee and adopted a Wellhead Protection Plan for the Ohio River Aquifer well field." ], [ "2020", "Sampled under Ohio's statewide PFAS initiative; six PFAS compounds tested and none detected in finished drinking water." ], [ "2023", "Participated in the fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule round (UCMR 5); no UCMR 5 contaminants were detected." ] ], "treat": "13 wells (3-6 at a time, up to 450 gpm each) feed aeration, then lime softening in a clarifier to pH ~10.3 with alum, recarbonation back to pH ~9.5, four anthracite-over-sand filters, then chlorine (~1.0 mg/L) and fluoride into a 450,000-gallon clear well.", "press": "not published as psi; five 750-gpm high-service pumps and 13 elevated storage towers hold pressure across the rural distribution area", "rate": { "g": 11, "n": "2026 schedule: 5/8-inch residential minimum $28.00/month including 2,000 gallons; next 48,000 gallons $11.00 per 1,000; above 50,000 gallons $10.00.", "m": null }, "imp": [ [ "Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM)", "25.6", "ppb", "80", "2025", "Disinfection byproduct; range 20.6-30.6 ppb; well under the MCL." ], [ "Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)", "2.9", "ppb", "60", "2025", "Disinfection byproduct; range ND-2.9 ppb." ], [ "Nitrate", "1.41", "ppm", "10", "2025", "Fertilizer runoff and natural deposits; about a seventh of the MCL." ], [ "Fluoride", "1.0", "ppm", "4", "2025", "Added as required by Ohio EPA; range 0.77-1.1 ppm." ], [ "Total Chlorine (residual disinfectant)", "0.96", "ppm", "4 (MRDL)", "2025", "Residual disinfectant; range roughly 0.87-1.0 ppm." ], [ "Lead (90th percentile)", "0.0", "ppb", "15 (action…", "2023", "30 sites sampled, none above the action level; detections ND-3.3 ppb." ], [ "Copper (90th percentile)", "0.009", "ppm", "1.3 (action…", "2023", "30 sites sampled, none above the action level; detections ND-0.019 ppm." ], [ "Barium", "0.0065", "ppm", "2", "2023", "Naturally occurring; far below the MCL." ] ], "proj": [], "plan": [], "stress": "Ohio EPA rates this aquifer HIGH susceptibility to contamination: a thin protective clay layer, a water table less than 40 feet down, significant potential contaminant sources nearby, and periodic serious Ohio River flooding. It is the county's only significant aquifer, since Brown County shale yields little water.", "sew": { "s": "Not documented. BCRWA is a drinking-water-only association; its materials describe no sanitary sewer service, and no source reviewed confirmed how its rural customers dispose of wastewater.", "st": "not documented in sources reviewed" }, "fun": [ "BCRWA exists because two separate citizen groups, one around Feesburg and one around Sardinia, merged so the new nonprofit could qualify for federal Farmers Home Administration loans.", "The plant uses lime softening rather than the coagulation-filtration typical of surface water plants, pushing pH to about 10.3 and then recarbonating it back down to about 9.5.", "Because most of Brown County sits on shale that yields only a few gallons a minute, the buried-valley Ohio River Aquifer - good for over 500 gpm - is the area's only significant groundwater source.", "In the 2023 UCMR 5 national monitoring round, none of the listed unregulated contaminants were detected in BCRWA's water; a 2020 state PFAS screen also came back clean." ] }, "zips_served": [ { "zip": "45101", "share": 0.7241, "dominant": true }, { "zip": "45167", "share": 0.4557, "dominant": true }, { "zip": "45130", "share": 0.0357, "dominant": false } ], "photo": { "url": "/photos/OH0802012.jpg", "caption": "Boat ramp along the Ohio River at Ripley, Ohio, near the Ripley well field serving Brown County Rural Water", "credit": "Brian Stansberry", "license": "CC BY 4.0" }, "url": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH0802012/", "api": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/water/OH0802012.json", "generated": "2026-09-16", "license": "CC BY 4.0 for the compilation; each source keeps its own terms", "cite": "Cracked Buckeye (Open Shower Co), \"Brown County Rural Water · OH0802012\", https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH0802012/, built 2026-09-16, accessed [date].", "schema": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/schema.json" }