{ "type": "water", "pwsid": "OH2301012", "name": "Lancaster City", "county": "Fairfield", "population": 40400, "producer": true, "source_class": "groundwater", "label": "Hocking River Valley Aquifer (wells)", "bodies": [], "intakes": [], "wells": 16, "aquifer": "Hocking River Valley Aquifer (glacial sand and gravel)", "notes": "16 active wells across the Miller Park (North) and South wellfields, drawing from glacial sand-and-gravel deposits of the Hocking River Valley Aquifer.", "urls": [ "https://www.lancasterohioutilities.org/sites/default/files/2024-11/consumer_confidence_report_2024.pdf", "https://www.lancasterohio.gov/274/Consumer-Confidence-Report", "https://www.lancasterohio.gov/284/Wellhead-Protection-Program" ], "chain": [ "OH2301012" ], "plants": [ { "n": "Miller Park (North) Water Treatment Plant", "a": "225 N. Memorial Drive, Lancaster, OH 43130", "la": 39.7285, "lo": -82.6055, "pt": "plant", "wb": "Hocking River Valley Aquifer", "src": "Miller Park well field (12 wells) drawing groundwater from the Hocking River Valley Aquifer, in Miller Park along N. Memorial Drive north of downtown Lancaster", "cls": "groundwater", "in": [ { "n": "Miller Park Well Field", "wb": "Hocking River Valley Aquifer (glacial sand and gravel)", "role": "primary", "src": "Twelve wells in Miller Park by the North plant on N. Memorial Dr., in Hocking River valley sand and gravel; used since 1932. (12 wells)", "la": 39.7167, "lo": -82.6082, "pt": "wellfield", "sh": 75, "wells": [ "Well 4", "Well 15", "Well 16", "Well 18", "Well 19", "Well 20", "Well 22", "Well 23", "Well 25", "Well 26", "Well 27", "Well 28" ] } ] }, { "n": "South Water Treatment Plant", "a": "4600 Sugar Grove Road SE, Lancaster, OH 43130", "la": 39.6874, "lo": -82.5866, "pt": "plant", "wb": "Hocking River Valley Aquifer", "src": "South well field (4 wells) drawing groundwater from the Hocking River Valley Aquifer near Sugar Grove Road SE, south side of Lancaster", "cls": "groundwater", "in": [ { "n": "South Well Field", "wb": "Hocking River Valley Aquifer (glacial sand and gravel)", "role": "secondary", "src": "Four wells beside the South plant at 4600 Sugar Grove Rd SE, southeast of town in the same Hocking River valley gravels. (4 wells)", "la": 39.6557, "lo": -82.5535, "pt": "plant", "sh": 25, "wells": [ "Well 1", "Well 2", "Well 3", "Well 4" ] } ] } ], "facts": { "hist": [ [ "1877-1882", "The city builds a water system for fire protection in 1877, adds a standpipe in 1879 and expands it to domestic service in 1882." ], [ "1925", "The original Miller Park water plant is built; it will serve for roughly a century before replacement." ], [ "1932", "The North (Miller Park) wellfield becomes operational, drawing on the Hocking River Valley Aquifer." ], [ "1939", "The Lancaster (Lawrence Street) Water Pollution Control Facility is constructed on the Hocking River." ], [ "2014", "Ohio EPA approves the city's Phase II Long Term Control Plan for its nine remaining combined sewer overflows." ] ], "treat": "All groundwater: 12 wells at Miller Park (North) and 4 at the South wellfield draw the sand-and-gravel Hocking River Valley Aquifer. The new North plant uses reverse osmosis (9.3 MGD firm), gravity filtration, degasification and blending into a 1.2 MG clearwell.", "press": "not published; no system-wide psi figure found in the CCR, rate sheet or Ohio EPA permit materials", "rate": { "g": 8, "n": "Rate Sheet 99, eff. March 2026: residential $5.98/ccf plus a $13.77 monthly 3/4-inch meter charge and $0.88 wellhead fee; outside-corporate $8.21/ccf.", "m": 44.55 }, "imp": [], "proj": [ [ "Miller Park North Water Treatment Plant replacement", 85000000, "", "completed", "Kokosing-built RO plant, 9.3 MGD firm capacity, 1.2 MG clearwell, three new wells and four wellhouses; completion year not published." ], [ "Lancaster (Lawrence Street) WPCF upgrade", null, "2023", "under construction", "Ohio EPA's 2023 NPDES fact sheet says the 1939 plant is currently being upgraded; scope and cost not published." ], [ "Upper Hocking WPCF expansion", null, "", "unknown", "Ohio EPA's 2023 permit paperwork lists Upper Hocking at 4 MGD average design flow; expansion timeline and cost not published." ] ], "plan": [ [ "Combined sewer overflow Long Term Control Plan (Phase II)", null, "2033", "under construction", "Nine remaining CSOs to be cut to zero-to-four events in a typical year, with a final completion date of December 2033." ] ], "stress": "The city rates its own source water as highly susceptible to contamination because the aquifer is shallow sand and gravel; it has run a source water protection plan since 1996. No quantity stress or drought vulnerability is documented, and the new plant was sized partly for industrial growth.", "sew": { "s": "Lancaster's Division of Water Pollution Control runs two Hocking River plants: the Lancaster (Lawrence Street) WPCF, built 1939 and being upgraded, at 10 MGD average design flow, 12 MGD secondary and 18 MGD peak hydraulic capacity serving about 30,000; and the Upper Hocking WPCF at 4 MGD.", "st": "The collection system is 92% separate and 8% combined with nine known CSOs under an Ohio EPA-approved control plan running to December 2033. A stormwater fee is billed at $9.25 per ERU per month." }, "fun": [ "Lancaster draws all of its drinking water from 16 wells in glacial sand and gravel of the Hocking River Valley Aquifer rather than from any river or lake intake.", "The city replaced its century-old Miller Park plant with an $85 million reverse-osmosis facility whose firm capacity, 9.3 MGD, is more than twice the city's sewer plant flow.", "Every Lancaster water bill carries a separate wellhead protection charge, as little as 59 cents a month, earmarked for guarding the aquifer the city sits on.", "Only 8% of Lancaster's sewers are combined, but that fraction still produces nine overflow points the city has until December 2033 to bring under control." ] }, "zips_served": [ { "zip": "43130", "share": 0.5768, "dominant": true } ], "photo": { "url": "/photos/OH2301012.jpg", "caption": "Main Street in Lancaster, Ohio", "credit": "Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant)", "license": "CC BY-SA 2.5" }, "url": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH2301012/", "api": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/water/OH2301012.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), \"Lancaster City ยท OH2301012\", https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH2301012/, built 2026-09-16, accessed [date].", "schema": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/schema.json" }