{ "type": "water", "pwsid": "OH4001912", "name": "Wellston City", "county": "Jackson", "population": 5846, "producer": true, "source_class": "reservoir", "label": "Lake Rupert + Lake Alma (Little Raccoon Creek reservoirs)", "bodies": [ "Lake Rupert", "Lake Alma", "Little Raccoon Creek" ], "intakes": [ "Lake Rupert (n Wtp)", "Lake Alma (n Wtp)", "Little Raccoon Creek (n Wtp)", "Impoundment (n Wtp)" ], "wells": 3, "aquifer": "", "notes": "Primary source is a blend of two city-owned reservoirs (Lake Rupert and Lake Alma) on Little Raccoon Creek in Vinton/Jackson County; SDWIS also lists 3 active wells as a supplemental/backup groundwater source.", "urls": [ "https://vintoncountytravel.com/parks-and-recreation/lake-rupert-wellston-wildlife-management-area/", "https://visitvintonohio.com/parks-and-recreation/lake-alma-state-park/" ], "chain": [ "OH4001912" ], "plants": [ { "n": "Wellston Water Treatment Plant (blended North + South supply)", "a": "203 E. Broadway St, Wellston, OH 45692 (Wellston Water Department office; North and South WTP sites not separately…", "la": 39.1257, "lo": -82.5335, "pt": "approximate", "wb": "Lake Rupert (surface reservoir) and South Wellston groundwater well field", "src": "Blended supply from two sources feeding one city distribution system: (1) Lake Rupert, a 327-acre ODNR/city reservoir on a Little Raccoon Creek tributary near Hamden in Vinton County, drawn at the North WTP (the older Lake Alma intake was taken out…", "cls": "reservoir", "in": [ { "n": "Lake Rupert intake", "wb": "Lake Rupert (ODNR/city reservoir on Little Raccoon Creek, Vinton County)", "role": "primary", "src": "City-owned reservoir built 1969 with ODNR on Little Raccoon Creek near Hamden, piped ~9 miles to the North WTP", "la": 39.1706, "lo": -82.5964, "pt": "approximate" }, { "n": "Little Raccoon Creek intake", "wb": "Little Raccoon Creek", "role": "secondary", "src": "The stream impounded to form Lake Rupert; SDWIS lists it separately from the reservoir intake structure itself, likely the dam/spillway withdrawal point rather than a distinct source", "la": 39.1706, "lo": -82.5964, "pt": "approximate" }, { "n": "South Wellston well field", "wb": "South Wellston groundwater (abandoned mine-influenced aquifer)", "role": "secondary", "src": "3 active wells near the former South WTP site south of Wellston, blended into the city's supply", "la": 39.115, "lo": -82.535, "pt": "approximate" }, { "n": "Lake Alma (discontinued)", "wb": "Lake Alma", "role": "backup", "src": "Former primary source for the North WTP via a 10-inch pipe; taken offline in 2015 after a microcystin (harmful algal bloom) detection and not currently used", "la": 39.1685, "lo": -82.5145, "pt": "approximate" } ] } ], "facts": { "hist": [ [ "2024", "Unconditioned license to operate; no violations reported in the 2024 Consumer Confidence Report." ], [ "2025", "2024 CCR (issued May 2025) announced that groundbreaking on a new Water Treatment Facility was set for that year, alongside grant applications for distribution-system work." ], [ "2025", "Ground broken on the new Water Treatment Facility; the 2025 CCR projects it operational by the end of 2028." ], [ "2025", "Two monitoring/reporting violations: the city failed to collect a Total Microcystins sample in the 8/17-8/30/2025 window (returned to compliance with samples on 9/10/2025, results within limits), and…" ], [ "2025", "Retained an unconditioned license to operate despite the two reporting violations." ] ], "treat": "Wellston draws from Little Raccoon Creek (surface water) blended with water from an abandoned coal mine, which the city describes as a mixture of ground water and surface water. The supply is treated at two separate plants, the North Plant and the South WTP, whose outputs feed one distribution…", "press": "Not published. No distribution pressure figure or pressure-zone map appears in the 2024 or 2025 CCR or anywhere on the city's website.", "rate": { "g": null, "n": "Genuinely unpublished. Wellston posts no water or sewer rate schedule online. The Clerk's Office page (203 E Broadway St) states it handles monthly utility billing and meter…", "m": null }, "imp": [ [ "TTHM (total trihalomethanes)", "65.6", "ppb", "80 (MCL)", "2025", "Compliance value is the running annual average. Individual detections ranged 8.2-94.4 ppb, so single samples exceeded…" ], [ "HAA5 (haloacetic acids)", "44.6", "ppb", "60 (MCL)", "2025", "Distribution system; range of individual detections 0-74.6 ppb. No violation." ], [ "Total chlorine", "2.19", "ppm", "4 (MRDL)", "2025", "Distribution system; range 2.06-2.30 ppm." ], [ "Lead (90th percentile)", "2", "ppb", "15 (action…", "2023", "0 of 20 samples exceeded the action level. Still the most recent lead sampling round reported in the 2025 CCR." ], [ "Copper (90th percentile)", "0.072", "ppm", "1.3 (action…", "2023", "0 of 20 samples exceeded the action level." ], [ "Nitrate", "0.33", "ppm", "10 (MCL)", "2025", "North Plant; range <0.10-0.33 ppm. Well below the MCL." ], [ "Fluoride", "1.28 (North…", "ppm", "4 (MCL)", "2025", "North Plant range 1.15-1.29 ppm. The two plants differ roughly eightfold — only the North Plant appears to fluoridate." ], [ "Barium", "0.02 (North) /…", "ppm", "2 (MCL)", "2025", "Both plants far below the MCL." ], [ "Turbidity", "0.33 (North) /…", "NTU", "TT: 0.3 NTU in…", "2025", "Highest recorded 2025 result was 0.47 NTU; lowest monthly percentage of samples meeting the limit was 99.2%. No…" ], [ "Total Organic Carbon (removal ratio)", "1.0 (both…", "ratio of…", "TT: must stay…", "2025", "Worth watching: both plants posted a minimum monthly ratio of exactly 1.0 in 2025 (North range 1.0-1.44, South…" ] ], "proj": [ [ "New Wellston Water Treatment Facility", null, "2025", "under construction", "The 2025 CCR states ground has been broken and the facility is projected operational by the end of 2028, replacing the aging North/South plant arrangement. The…" ] ], "plan": [ [ "Distribution system improvement grants", null, "2024-2025", "proposed", "Both the 2024 and 2025 CCRs say the city is applying for several grants for distribution-system improvements. No specific project, grant program, award, or…" ] ], "stress": "Both raw-water inputs carry a high susceptibility rating in the city's own CCRs. The Little Raccoon Creek supply is surface water, which Ohio EPA treats as inherently susceptible: it is openly accessible and moves fast enough that an upstream spill can reach the intake with little warning. The abandoned coal mine source, a ground/surface…", "sew": { "s": "Not documented in sources reviewed. The CCRs cover drinking water only, and the city website publishes no wastewater plant capacity, process, receiving stream, or NPDES information.", "st": "Not documented in sources reviewed. No stormwater utility or dedicated fee identified." }, "fun": [ "Wellston's drinking water is drawn partly from an abandoned coal mine — the city's CCR lists it as a ground water source and notes it is really a ground/surface mixture, a direct legacy of the area's mining history.", "The city runs two separate treatment plants, North and South, whose outputs blend into one distribution system. The difference shows in the tap: North Plant water tested at 1.28 ppm fluoride in 2025 while South WTP…", "Ground has been broken on an entirely new Water Treatment Facility that will replace both aging plants, with the city projecting it operational by the end of 2028.", "Wellston reported zero violations in 2024, but picked up two reporting violations in 2025 — it missed a two-week Total Microcystins sampling window and left its UCMR5 results out of the previous year's report. It kept…" ], "src": { "history": [ "https://cityofwellston.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/wellston_ccr_2025done.docx", "https://cityofwellston.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/wellston_ccr_2024.pdf" ], "treatment": [ "https://cityofwellston.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/wellston_ccr_2025done.docx", "https://cityofwellston.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/wellston_ccr_2024.pdf" ], "rates": [ "https://cityofwellston.org/city-clerks-office/", "https://cityofwellston.org/" ], "impurities": [ "https://cityofwellston.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/wellston_ccr_2025done.docx", "https://cityofwellston.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/wellston_ccr_2024.pdf" ], "projects": [ "https://cityofwellston.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/wellston_ccr_2025done.docx" ], "planned": [ "https://cityofwellston.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/wellston_ccr_2025done.docx", "https://cityofwellston.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/wellston_ccr_2024.pdf" ], "water_stress": [ "https://cityofwellston.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/wellston_ccr_2025done.docx", "https://cityofwellston.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/wellston_ccr_2024.pdf" ], "fun_facts": [ "https://cityofwellston.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/wellston_ccr_2025done.docx", "https://cityofwellston.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/wellston_ccr_2024.pdf" ] } }, "zips_served": [ { "zip": "45692", "share": 0.5449, "dominant": true }, { "zip": "45640", "share": 0.0277, "dominant": false }, { "zip": "45634", "share": 0.0026, "dominant": false } ], "photo": { "url": "/photos/OH4001912.jpg", "caption": "Lake Rupert near Hamden, Ohio, the Little Raccoon Creek reservoir supplying Wellston", "credit": "dankeck", "license": "CC0" }, "url": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH4001912/", "api": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/water/OH4001912.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), \"Wellston City · OH4001912\", https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH4001912/, built 2026-09-16, accessed [date].", "schema": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/schema.json" }