{
  "type": "water",
  "pwsid": "OH1502011",
  "name": "Salem City",
  "county": "Columbiana",
  "population": 16850,
  "producer": true,
  "source_class": "reservoir",
  "label": "East Cold Run Reservoir & Spring Valley Reservoir (Cold Run Creek)",
  "bodies": [
    "East Cold Run Reservoir (Salem City Lake)",
    "Spring Valley Reservoir",
    "Cold Run Creek"
  ],
  "intakes": [
    "Salem Spring Valley Reserv",
    "Salem Cold Run Creek",
    "Salem Salem Reservoir Intak"
  ],
  "wells": 4,
  "aquifer": "",
  "notes": "City draws from two on-stream reservoirs on Cold Run Creek (East Cold Run/Salem City Lake and Spring Valley) plus 4 groundwater wells as a blended/backup supply; city has been studying a new water source due to reservoir capacity/algae issues.",
  "urls": [
    "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2024/09/salem-utilities-commission-receives-projects-update/",
    "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2016/11/salem-continues-search-for-new-water-source/"
  ],
  "chain": [
    "OH1502011"
  ],
  "plants": [
    {
      "n": "Salem City Water Treatment Plant",
      "a": "Salem, Columbiana County, OH (reservoirs southeast of the city; exact address not verified)",
      "la": 40.85,
      "lo": -80.82,
      "pt": "approximate",
      "wb": "Cold Run Creek (East Cold Run Reservoir and Spring Valley/Salem Reservoir)",
      "src": "Cold Run Creek impounded in the East Cold Run Reservoir and Spring Valley (Salem) Reservoir southeast of the city, plus 4 active wells as a supplemental source",
      "cls": "reservoir",
      "in": [
        {
          "n": "Cold Run Creek intake",
          "wb": "Unconfirmed shallow alluvial/valley aquifer associated with Cold Run Creek southeast of Salem (aquifer type not published in sources…",
          "role": "primary",
          "src": "Salem's supply is primarily two impounded reservoirs (East Cold Run Reservoir and Spring Valley Reservoir) on Cold Run Creek; 4 active groundwater wells supplement this surface supply, per SDWIS, but the well field's precise site, depths, and… (4 wells)",
          "la": 40.8131,
          "lo": -80.8358,
          "pt": "approximate",
          "wells": [
            "Well 1",
            "Well 2",
            "Well 3",
            "Well 4"
          ]
        },
        {
          "n": "Salem Reservoir (East Cold Run Reservoir)",
          "wb": "Cold Run Creek (impounded)",
          "role": "primary",
          "src": "Main storage impoundment on Cold Run Creek, also called Salem City Lake, at 6150 Gamble Road about 8 miles south of Salem",
          "la": 40.8131,
          "lo": -80.8358,
          "pt": "intake"
        },
        {
          "n": "Spring Valley Reservoir",
          "wb": "tributary of Cold Run Creek watershed (unconfirmed)",
          "role": "secondary",
          "src": "Second impoundment in the Salem reservoir system, used alongside East Cold Run/Salem Reservoir; has experienced recurring algae issues requiring SolarBee circulators",
          "la": 40.8393,
          "lo": -80.8736,
          "pt": "approximate"
        },
        {
          "n": "Cold Run Creek well field",
          "wb": "groundwater (Cold Run Creek valley aquifer)",
          "role": "secondary",
          "src": "Four active wells at the well field south of Salem near the Cold Run Creek pump station, blended with surface water",
          "la": 40.8131,
          "lo": -80.8358,
          "pt": "approximate"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "facts": {
    "hist": [
      [
        "1982",
        "A raw-water pump was installed at the Cold Run Creek pump station; it was repaired in 2000 and by 2016 needed replacement, with a bowl assembly estimated at $24,000."
      ],
      [
        "2016",
        "Utilities Commission accepted a $6,760 proposal from Layne Well Driller to drill, sample and convert an exploratory well east of the Cold Run Creek pump station into a monitoring well with a locking…"
      ],
      [
        "2016",
        "Officials cited Ohio EPA scrutiny of disinfection by-products in the reservoir surface water as the reason to lean more on the city's wells, noting subsurface water helps hold by-product levels down."
      ],
      [
        "2021",
        "Utilities Commission and Council approved a multi-year water rate overhaul: the minimum rose $9 to $19.30 for the first 200 cubic feet in January 2022, with 5.5% usage-rate increases in 2022 through…"
      ],
      [
        "2022",
        "A consent decree between Salem and the EPA completed its 30-day comment period without objection, concluding litigation against the city as of November 2022."
      ],
      [
        "2024",
        "Summer water line breaks on aging mains — 'it's just old pipe, it's late 1800s pipe there' — led the commission to price full replacement of the oldest lines at roughly $110 million and adopt a…"
      ]
    ],
    "treat": "Raw water is a blend of surface water impounded in two on-stream reservoirs on Cold Run Creek — East Cold Run Reservoir (Salem City Lake) and Spring Valley Reservoir — together with groundwater from the city's wells, blended in part to keep disinfection by-product levels down. The city has also…",
    "press": "Not published in any reachable source.",
    "rate": {
      "g": null,
      "n": "Salem bills in hundreds of cubic feet (CCF); 1 ccf = 748 gallons, so any per-1,000-gallon figure must divide by 0.748. Verified schedule: before 2022 the in-city minimum was…",
      "m": null
    },
    "imp": [],
    "proj": [
      [
        "Water treatment plant improvements, Phase One",
        4500000,
        "2022",
        "under construction",
        "Total estimated cost approximately $4.5 million. Contractor A.P. O'horo was executing the work as of October 2024, when a design change was pending to enlarge…"
      ],
      [
        "Governor's Office of Appalachia grant for water plant work",
        221094,
        "2022",
        "completed",
        "Grant secured by the Salem Utilities Commission; the balance of the plant program is funded through an Ohio EPA Drinking Water Assistance Fund loan of up to…"
      ],
      [
        "East Cold Run Reservoir rip-rap project",
        500000,
        "2022",
        "under construction",
        "Originally estimated at $500,000, the cost roughly doubled; a $236,000 Governor's Office of Appalachia grant covers part, with the remainder from department…"
      ],
      [
        "SolarBee installation in reservoirs",
        null,
        "2022",
        "planned",
        "Three units in East Cold Run Reservoir and two in Spring Valley Reservoir, pending final Ohio EPA engineer review, to control algae. No cost published."
      ],
      [
        "Cold Run Creek exploratory/monitoring well conversion",
        6760,
        "2016",
        "unknown",
        "Layne Well Driller contract accepted to drill, sample and convert the well; completion is not confirmed in any source reviewed."
      ],
      [
        "Wastewater treatment plant anaerobic digester cleaning, Phase Three",
        250000,
        "2024",
        "completed",
        "Estimated at $75,000 but came in near $250,000 — an extra $175,000 — because the digester held about three times more material than engineers anticipated."
      ],
      [
        "Wastewater treatment plant digester lids and controls building",
        null,
        "2024",
        "under construction",
        "Primary lid being welded in place and secondary lid painted and ready as of October 2024; a new control system building was under construction with ventilation…"
      ],
      [
        "Highland Avenue water tank painting",
        null,
        "2016",
        "unknown",
        "Underway as of a 2016 news report; no completion or cost confirmed."
      ]
    ],
    "plan": [
      [
        "New water source search",
        null,
        "",
        "proposed",
        "The city has periodically studied alternative or supplemental sources, citing reservoir capacity and water-quality (algae and disinfection by-product)…"
      ],
      [
        "Replacement of oldest water mains",
        110000000,
        "2024",
        "needed",
        "The utilities department priced full replacement of its oldest, most break-prone lines — many over 100 years old, some dating to the late 1800s — at roughly…"
      ],
      [
        "Algae control measures (white amurs, additional SolarBee units)",
        null,
        "",
        "proposed",
        "Management proposed stocking white amurs (herbivorous fish) and acquiring more SolarBee solar-powered pump units to control reservoir algae. No cost published."
      ]
    ],
    "stress": "Salem's supply leans on two relatively small on-stream reservoirs subject to algae blooms and disinfection by-product formation, which has pushed the utility to blend in groundwater and to repeatedly study new sources. In August 2024 the city lake stood about 1 foot 10 inches below normal; East Cold Run Reservoir remained clear but…",
    "sew": {
      "s": "Salem operates its own wastewater treatment plant, which underwent Phase IA improvements around 2016 and, through 2024, anaerobic digester cleaning and rehabilitation (Phase Three digester cleaning ran to roughly $250,000 against a $75,000 estimate) plus new digester lids and a control system building. A consent decree between the city…",
      "st": "Not published. No separate stormwater utility or fee was found for Salem in any reachable source."
    },
    "fun": [
      "Salem blends surface water from two on-stream reservoirs with groundwater from its wells specifically to hold disinfection by-product levels down.",
      "A raw-water pump installed at the Cold Run Creek station in 1982 was still doing duty more than three decades later, repaired once in 2000.",
      "The utilities commission once considered ceramic-coating the pump impellers just to squeeze more life out of the aging equipment.",
      "Some of Salem's water mains are late-1800s pipe — as the distribution foreman put it in 2024, 'it's just old pipe.' Replacing the worst of it would cost about $110 million, so the city patches as it goes.",
      "To fight algae, Salem has floated solar-powered SolarBee mixers on its reservoirs and considered stocking white amurs — herbivorous fish hired to eat the problem."
    ],
    "src": {
      "history": [
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2016/11/salem-continues-search-for-new-water-source/",
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2021/11/salem-approves-water-rate-increase/",
        "https://www.salemnews.net/news/local-news/2021/10/increases-to-water-bills-recommended-in-salem/",
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2022/11/salem-receives-funding-for-water-treatment-plant/"
      ],
      "treatment": [
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2016/11/salem-continues-search-for-new-water-source/",
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2022/11/salem-receives-funding-for-water-treatment-plant/"
      ],
      "rates": [
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2021/10/salem-looks-to-increase-water-rates/",
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2021/11/salem-approves-water-rate-increase/",
        "https://www.salemnews.net/news/local-news/2021/10/increases-to-water-bills-recommended-in-salem/",
        "https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/salem/latest/salem_oh/0-0-0-16528"
      ],
      "projects": [
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2022/11/salem-receives-funding-for-water-treatment-plant/",
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2016/11/salem-continues-search-for-new-water-source/",
        "https://www.salemnews.net/news/local-news/2024/10/salem-utilities-commission-gets-update-on-projects/",
        "https://www.salemnews.net/news/local-news/2024/08/utilities-commission-discusses-issues-with-water-line-breaks/"
      ],
      "planned": [
        "https://www.salemnews.net/news/local-news/2024/08/utilities-commission-discusses-issues-with-water-line-breaks/",
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2016/11/salem-continues-search-for-new-water-source/"
      ],
      "water_stress": [
        "https://www.salemnews.net/news/local-news/2024/08/utilities-commission-discusses-issues-with-water-line-breaks/",
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2022/11/salem-receives-funding-for-water-treatment-plant/",
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2016/11/salem-continues-search-for-new-water-source/"
      ],
      "sewer": [
        "https://www.salemnews.net/news/local-news/2024/08/utilities-commission-discusses-issues-with-water-line-breaks/",
        "https://www.salemnews.net/news/local-news/2024/10/salem-utilities-commission-gets-update-on-projects/",
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2022/11/salem-receives-funding-for-water-treatment-plant/",
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2016/11/salem-continues-search-for-new-water-source/"
      ],
      "fun_facts": [
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2016/11/salem-continues-search-for-new-water-source/",
        "https://www.salemnews.net/news/local-news/2024/08/utilities-commission-discusses-issues-with-water-line-breaks/",
        "https://www.salemnews.net/news/local-news/2024/10/salem-utilities-commission-gets-update-on-projects/",
        "https://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/local-news/2022/11/salem-receives-funding-for-water-treatment-plant/"
      ]
    }
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      "zip": "44460",
      "share": 0.5487,
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  "photo": {
    "url": "/photos/OH1502011.jpg",
    "caption": "State Street in downtown Salem, Ohio",
    "credit": "Nyttend",
    "license": "Public domain"
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  "generated": "2026-09-16",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0 for the compilation; each source keeps its own terms",
  "cite": "Cracked Buckeye (Open Shower Co), \"Salem City · OH1502011\", https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH1502011/, built 2026-09-16, accessed [date].",
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