{ "type": "water", "pwsid": "OH1401211", "name": "Wilmington City", "county": "Clinton", "population": 12401, "producer": true, "source_class": "reservoir", "label": "Caesar Creek Lake (with Burtonville reservoirs/Cowan Creek as backup)", "bodies": [ "Caesar Creek Lake", "Burtonville Reservoirs (Cowan Creek)" ], "intakes": [ "Wilmington Caesar Lake Inta", "Wilmington Reservoir", "Wilmington Cowan Creek Inta" ], "wells": 0, "aquifer": "", "notes": "Since 1994 Caesar Creek Lake (Army Corps flood-control lake) has been the principal source; the two Burtonville reservoirs fed by Cowan Creek serve as backup, used e.g. during 2017 and 2022 algal bloom events on the lake.", "urls": [ "https://www.wnewsj.com/2022/06/17/city-to-rely-on-caesar-creek-as-water-source-due-to-2-compounds-in-reservoirs/", "https://www.wnewsj.com/2018/05/04/grant-to-fund-study-of-wilmington-water-supply-algal-blooms-in-caesar-creek-lake-forced-switch-in-17/" ], "chain": [ "OH1401211" ], "plants": [ { "n": "Wilmington Water Treatment Plant", "la": 39.4862, "lo": -84.0605, "pt": "plant", "wb": "Caesar Creek Lake", "src": "Caesar Creek Lake (with Burtonville reservoirs/Cowan Creek as backup)", "cls": "reservoir", "in": [ { "n": "Caesar Creek Lake intake", "wb": "Caesar Creek Lake", "role": "primary", "src": "Since 1994 the principal source; Corps of Engineers flood-control lake about 13 miles from Wilmington, pumped via a lakeside intake/pump station", "la": 39.4862, "lo": -84.0605, "pt": "approximate" }, { "n": "Cowan Creek intake", "wb": "Cowan Creek", "role": "recharge", "src": "Pump intake on Cowan Creek near Burtonville used to fill the two city-owned Burtonville reservoirs when creek flow allows", "la": 39.405, "lo": -83.814, "pt": "approximate" }, { "n": "Large Burtonville Reservoir", "wb": "Burtonville Reservoirs (Cowan Creek storage)", "role": "storage", "src": "Larger of two city-owned off-stream reservoirs at Burtonville (450 million gallons combined) filled by pumped Cowan Creek water, used as backup supply", "la": 39.405, "lo": -83.814, "pt": "approximate" }, { "n": "Small Burtonville Reservoir", "wb": "Burtonville Reservoirs (Cowan Creek storage)", "role": "storage", "src": "Smaller of two city-owned off-stream reservoirs at Burtonville, paired with the large reservoir as backup supply filled from Cowan Creek", "la": 39.405, "lo": -83.814, "pt": "approximate" } ] } ], "facts": { "hist": [ [ "1899-1906", "After a mixed 1899 vote and a successful 1901 vote, Wilmington's first municipal water system was completed in 1906." ], [ "1914", "Dayton Power and Light took over the local water and electric utility." ], [ "1945", "First Burtonville reservoir (100 million gallons) built, along with a water plant on Wall Street that operated until 2000." ], [ "1962", "Second Burtonville reservoir added (350 million gallons), giving 450 million gallons of combined backup storage." ], [ "1970", "The City took over the water system from Dayton Power and Light (city states 'around 1970')." ], [ "1990", "Current water treatment plant built." ] ], "treat": "Surface-water lime softening plant. Multi-stage: powdered activated carbon adsorption, coagulation/flocculation with aluminum sulfate and lime, softening, sedimentation, re-carbonation, filtration through eight coal-and-sand filters, stabilization, and chlorine disinfection. The plant produces…", "press": "Not published. Neither the city's water pages nor the 2025 CCR give service pressures or pressure zones; the only distribution figures published are four water towers plus two…", "rate": { "g": 10.03, "n": "Codified in Wilmington Code of Ordinances Sec. 929.01 (Ord. O-25-61, sec. 1, adopted 11-6-25; code version June 12, 2026). Inside-city usage fee is tiered per 1,000 gallons…", "m": 46.9 }, "imp": [ [ "Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)", "63.3", "ppb", "80 (LRAA)", "2025", "Range of individual detections 23.5-83.9 ppb; the high end exceeds the 80 ppb MCL although compliance is judged on the…" ], [ "Haloacetic acids (HAA5)", "22.1", "ppb", "60 (LRAA)", "2025", "Range 13.8-23.0 ppb. By-product of chlorinating organic-rich reservoir water." ], [ "Total organic carbon (TOC)", "3.61", "ppm", "treatment…", "2025", "Range 2.76-4.33 ppm; TOC is the disinfection-byproduct precursor and explains the high TTHM." ], [ "Chlorine", "2.18", "ppm", "4 (MRDL)", "2025", "Range 1.32-2.66 ppm." ], [ "Nitrate", "3.24", "ppm", "10", "2025", "Range 0.46-3.24 ppm; agricultural watershed." ], [ "Fluoride", "0.93", "ppm", "4", "2025", "Range 0.80-1.07 ppm; added at the plant." ], [ "Barium", "0.0085", "ppm", "2", "2025", "Far below the MCL." ], [ "Cyanide", "1.56", "ppb", "200", "2025", "Far below the MCL." ], [ "Turbidity", "0.14", "NTU", "treatment…", "2025", "100% of monthly samples met the limit." ], [ "Lead", "0.8 (90th…", "ppb", "15 (action…", "2025", "Range ND-4.8 ppb; 0 of 30 samples over the action level." ] ], "proj": [ [ "New Wilmington wastewater treatment plant", 5000000, "2023-2026", "under construction", "Being built on S. Nelson Avenue across from the existing plant at 475 S. Nelson Ave. Average daily capacity will be 50% higher than the existing plant and it…" ], [ "Water tower upgrades", null, "2015", "completed", "City states its water has met every state and federal standard since upgrades were installed in two water towers in 2015. No cost published." ] ], "plan": [ [ "PFAS removal feasibility study for the Burtonville reservoirs", null, "", "planned", "City states it secured federal funding for a study to determine how PFAS could be removed so the reservoirs can be used in the future. No cost, scope or…" ] ], "stress": "Wilmington's stress is quality, not quantity. Its backup reservoirs at Burtonville carry PFOS and PFHxS at roughly 10-20 ppt from firefighting foam the military mandated at the adjacent Wilmington Air Park; the city sued 3M and is pursuing a PFAS-removal study. The reservoirs have not been abandoned - the 2025 CCR says they are 'often…", "sew": { "s": "City-operated. The existing Wilmington Wastewater Treatment Plant is at 475 S. Nelson Ave.; treated effluent discharges to Lytle Creek and biosolids are land-applied to agricultural fields for their fertilizer value. A replacement plant has been under construction since 2023 on the opposite side of S. Nelson Ave., with 50% more average…", "st": "Wilmington runs a genuine stormwater utility (Code Ch. 924, with illicit-discharge and comprehensive stormwater management under Ch. 938 and 939). The residential charge is $0.0271 per square foot of impervious surface per year, billed monthly." }, "fun": [ "Wilmington's backup reservoirs became the contaminated ones: the Burtonville pair, built in 1945 and 1962 as the city's safety net, hold PFOS and PFHxS from firefighting foam the military required at the adjacent…", "The city sued 3M, maker of the PFAS-containing firefighting foam, in federal court to recover contamination costs.", "Caesar Creek Lake, the primary source, is a 2,830-acre Army Corps flood-control reservoir with 40 miles of shoreline draining a 237-square-mile watershed.", "Wilmington's water was privately owned for roughly half a century: Dayton Power and Light ran the water and electric utility from 1914 until the city took the water system back around 1970.", "The city keeps an auxiliary interconnection with the Western Water Company purely to keep outlying customers in water during main-break repairs." ], "src": { "history": [ "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/about-water-treatment/", "https://gemgrp.com/eReports/WilmingtonOHCCR2026", "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/pfas-information/", "https://www.wnewsj.com/2022/06/17/city-to-rely-on-caesar-creek-as-water-source-due-to-2-compounds-in-reservoirs/" ], "treatment": [ "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/about-water-treatment/", "https://gemgrp.com/eReports/WilmingtonOHCCR2026" ], "pressure": [ "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/about-water-treatment/", "https://gemgrp.com/eReports/WilmingtonOHCCR2026" ], "rates": [ "https://library.municode.com/oh/wilmington/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CD_ORD_PT9STPUSECO_TITTHREEUT_CH929WARA", "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/question/how-much-is-an-average-monthly-utility-bill/" ], "impurities": [ "https://gemgrp.com/eReports/WilmingtonOHCCR2026", "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/pfas-information/" ], "projects": [ "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/wwtp-design-data/", "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/departments/wastewater/", "https://www.wnewsj.com/2021/11/03/wilmington-receives-5m-grant-toward-wastewater-treatment-plant-upgrade/", "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/about-water-treatment/" ], "planned": [ "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/pfas-information/" ], "water_stress": [ "https://gemgrp.com/eReports/WilmingtonOHCCR2026", "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/pfas-information/", "https://www.wnewsj.com/2018/05/04/grant-to-fund-study-of-wilmington-water-supply-algal-blooms-in-caesar-creek-lake-forced-switch-in-17/" ], "sewer": [ "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/departments/wastewater/", "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/wwtp-design-data/", "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/question/how-much-is-an-average-monthly-utility-bill/", "https://library.municode.com/oh/wilmington/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CD_ORD_PT9STPUSECO_TITTHREEUT" ], "fun_facts": [ "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/about-water-treatment/", "https://wilmingtonohio.gov/pfas-information/", "https://gemgrp.com/eReports/WilmingtonOHCCR2026", "https://library.municode.com/oh/wilmington/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CD_ORD_PT9STPUSECO_TITTHREEUT_CH929WARA" ] } }, "zips_served": [ { "zip": "45177", "share": 0.614, "dominant": true } ], "photo": { "url": "/photos/OH1401211.jpg", "caption": "The spillway/dam at Caesar Creek Lake, source of Wilmington's water supply", "credit": "Nyttend", "license": "Public domain" }, "url": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH1401211/", "api": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/water/OH1401211.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), \"Wilmington City · OH1401211\", https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH1401211/, built 2026-09-16, accessed [date].", "schema": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/schema.json" }