{ "type": "water", "pwsid": "OH1800111", "name": "Berea City", "county": "Cuyahoga", "population": 18789, "producer": true, "source_class": "river", "label": "East Branch Rocky River", "bodies": [ "Rocky River (East Branch)" ], "intakes": [ "Berea Branch Rocky" ], "wells": 0, "aquifer": "", "notes": "Sole intake is on the East Branch of the Rocky River; no wells reported.", "urls": [ "https://www.bereaohio.com/departments/service/water" ], "chain": [ "OH1800111" ], "plants": [ { "n": "Berea City Water Treatment Plant", "a": "Berea, Cuyahoga County, OH 44017 (exact plant/intake address not verified)", "la": 41.3684, "lo": -81.8554, "pt": "approximate", "wb": "East Branch Rocky River", "src": "East Branch Rocky River, which Wikipedia's Berea article confirms 'provides its water supply for most of the year,' impounded/drawn near the city before treatment", "cls": "river" } ], "facts": { "hist": [ [ "1898", "Berea begins pumping water, prompted by a series of destructive fires." ], [ "1920s", "Water treatment processes introduced at the plant to prevent waterborne disease." ], [ "1980s", "Plant modernization led by Dr. Dimiter Ramadanoff." ], [ "1984", "Berea becomes the first drinking water plant in Ohio to use ozonation for disinfection; ozone has since been replaced by activated carbon filtration and ultraviolet light." ], [ "2014", "Ultraviolet disinfection added, approved by Ohio EPA to inactivate cryptosporidium." ], [ "2017", "City begins a voluntary corrosion control study following national attention to lead in drinking water." ] ], "treat": "Berea owns and operates its own surface-water treatment plant in downtown Berea, average production about 2.1 million gallons per day. Raw water is drawn from the East Branch of the Rocky River, with Coe Lake available as an alternate source; a backup interconnection with Cleveland Water exists and…", "press": "Not published. No CCR, city page or Ohio EPA record reviewed gives a system psi figure or a pressure-zone map.", "rate": { "g": null, "n": "Not published anywhere retrievable. Berea bills water quarterly (three months of usage per bill), but the Water Department page, the Water Billing page and the payment FAQ all…", "m": null }, "imp": [ [ "Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM)", "64.2", "ppb", "80", "2025", "Range of detections 27.5-106.1 ppb — individual samples exceeded the 80 ppb standard, but compliance is judged on a…" ], [ "Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)", "12.2", "ppb", "60", "2025", "Range 6.0-18.5 ppb. 2023: 13.5 ppb (range 6.0-17.2)." ], [ "Total Chlorine", "1.27", "ppm", "4 (MRDL)", "2025", "Range 0.91-1.36 ppm." ], [ "Nitrate", "6.2", "ppm", "10", "2025", "Range 0.5-6.2 ppm — the highest single result reached 62% of the MCL. The CCR carries the blue-baby-syndrome advisory…" ], [ "Fluoride", "1.24", "ppm", "4", "2025", "Range 0.76-1.24 ppm." ], [ "Turbidity", "0.23 (highest)…", "NTU", "0.3 (TT)", "2025", "Range 0.03-0.230 NTU. Turbidity is the performance check on the filters for a surface-water plant." ], [ "Total Organic Carbon (removal ratio)", "2.08", "ratio", "TT (value must…", "2025", "Range 1.85-3.45; a value above 1 means the plant is meeting its required TOC removal. TOC is the precursor material…" ], [ "Lead (90th percentile)", "2.6", "ppb", "15 (AL)", "2025", "0 of 30 samples above the action level. 2023 result was <2 ug/L." ], [ "Copper (90th percentile)", "0.099", "ppm", "1.3 (AL)", "2025", "0 of 30 samples above the action level. 2023: 0.0170 ppm." ], [ "Lithium", "8.3-11", "ug/L", "unregulated…", "2024", "Quarterly UCMR 5 results: 11 (Jan), 9.4 (Apr), 8.8 (Jul), 8.3 (Oct) ug/L against a minimum reporting level of 9 ug/L." ] ], "proj": [], "plan": [ [ "Replacement of aging water mains installed in the 1950s", null, "", "needed", "The Water Plant page names this the department's major priority, attributing discolored water and frequent breaks to the 1950s-era mains. No cost, schedule or…" ], [ "Lead service line inventory — unknown-material follow-up", null, "", "under construction", "Letters to residents whose service lines are designated 'unknown' go out in September 2026, offering a self-identification form or a city inspection; results…" ] ], "stress": "Berea is one of the very few Cuyahoga County communities that still makes its own water rather than buying from Cleveland, and its entire supply is a small urban stream. Wikipedia's account is that the East Branch of the Rocky River provides the supply 'for most of the year' — the city's own material confirms Coe Lake as the alternate…", "sew": { "s": "Sanitary sewage is handled by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. Berea's own Water Billing page tells customers that NEORSD sets and bills wastewater rates and links directly to NEORSD's rate page and summer sprinkling program, confirming NEORSD membership from a city source rather than an inference. Which NEORSD treatment plant…", "st": "NEORSD's Regional Stormwater Management Program covers Berea, and the city's Water Billing page links to it directly; NEORSD bills the stormwater fee alongside the wastewater charge. The city's own storm water pages focus on local drainage and rain gardens…" }, "fun": [ "In 1984 Berea's plant was the first drinking water plant in Ohio to disinfect with ozone. The ozone is long gone, replaced by activated carbon filtration and ultraviolet light.", "Berea makes its own water — about 2.1 million gallons a day — in a city that calls itself the 'Grindstone Capital of the World' for the sandstone quarries that made it, and it is one of only a handful of Cuyahoga County…", "When the river will not do, the plant switches to Coe Lake, a lake in a city park, as its raw water source.", "Berea started pumping water in 1898 mainly to stop the town burning down.", "The city publishes a detailed annual water quality report but no water rate schedule at all — customers get a quarterly bill and are pointed to a separate agency, NEORSD, for the sewer half of it." ], "src": { "history": [ "https://cityofberea.org/316/Water-Plant", "https://cityofberea.org/DocumentCenter/View/5565", "https://cityofberea.org/DocumentCenter/View/4351/Water-Quality-Report-2023" ], "treatment": [ "https://cityofberea.org/316/Water-Plant", "https://cityofberea.org/DocumentCenter/View/5565", "https://cityofberea.org/DocumentCenter/View/4351/Water-Quality-Report-2023" ], "rates": [ "https://cityofberea.org/264/Water-Billing", "https://cityofberea.org/315/Water-Department", "https://cityofberea.org/Faq.aspx?QID=84", "https://www.neorsd.org/customers-service-page/sewer-rates-and-stormwater-fees/" ], "impurities": [ "https://cityofberea.org/DocumentCenter/View/5565", "https://cityofberea.org/DocumentCenter/View/4351/Water-Quality-Report-2023" ], "planned": [ "https://cityofberea.org/316/Water-Plant", "https://cityofberea.org/DocumentCenter/View/5565" ], "water_stress": [ "https://cityofberea.org/DocumentCenter/View/4351/Water-Quality-Report-2023", "https://cityofberea.org/DocumentCenter/View/5565", "https://cityofberea.org/316/Water-Plant", "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berea,_Ohio" ], "sewer": [ "https://cityofberea.org/264/Water-Billing", "https://www.neorsd.org/customers-service-page/sewer-rates-and-stormwater-fees/", "https://www.neorsd.org/stormwater-2/" ], "fun_facts": [ "https://cityofberea.org/316/Water-Plant", "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berea,_Ohio", "https://cityofberea.org/DocumentCenter/View/5565", "https://cityofberea.org/264/Water-Billing" ] } }, "zips_served": [ { "zip": "44017", "share": 0.9609, "dominant": true } ], "photo": { "url": "/photos/OH1800111.jpg", "caption": "Berea Falls on the East Branch Rocky River, Berea's water source", "credit": "Central Avenue", "license": "CC BY 4.0" }, "url": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH1800111/", "api": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/water/OH1800111.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), \"Berea City · OH1800111\", https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH1800111/, built 2026-09-16, accessed [date].", "schema": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/schema.json" }