{
  "type": "water",
  "pwsid": "OH4200812",
  "name": "Mount Vernon City",
  "county": "Knox",
  "population": 16990,
  "producer": true,
  "source_class": "groundwater",
  "label": "Buried Valley Aquifer (Kokosing River valley wells)",
  "bodies": [
    "Kokosing River"
  ],
  "intakes": [],
  "wells": 2,
  "aquifer": "Buried Valley Aquifer along the Kokosing River",
  "notes": "",
  "urls": [
    "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/632/Water-Consumer-Confidence-Report-Water-Quality-Report-PDF"
  ],
  "chain": [
    "OH4200812"
  ],
  "plants": [
    {
      "n": "Mount Vernon City Water Treatment Plant",
      "a": "Mount Vernon, Knox County, OH (Kokosing River valley well field; exact address not verified)",
      "la": 40.3934,
      "lo": -82.4855,
      "pt": "approximate",
      "wb": "Kokosing River buried-valley aquifer",
      "src": "Wells drawing groundwater from the buried-valley aquifer along the Kokosing River near Mount Vernon",
      "cls": "groundwater",
      "in": [
        {
          "n": "Riverside Park well field",
          "wb": "Buried Valley Aquifer coincident with the Kokosing River (sand and gravel; shallow, less than 15 ft to water table with only 0-25 ft of…",
          "role": "primary",
          "src": "Municipal well(s) sited at Riverside Park in Mount Vernon, drawing from the shallow buried-valley sand-and-gravel aquifer along the Kokosing River. (1 well)",
          "la": 40.3934,
          "lo": -82.4855,
          "pt": "plant",
          "wells": [
            "Well 4"
          ]
        },
        {
          "n": "West-side well (near sludge lagoons)",
          "wb": "Buried Valley Aquifer coincident with the Kokosing River (same shallow sand-and-gravel unit as the Riverside Park field)",
          "role": "secondary",
          "src": "A second municipal well located on the west side of the Kokosing River behind the city's sludge lagoons, supplementing the Riverside Park field. (1 well)",
          "la": 40.3934,
          "lo": -82.4855,
          "pt": "approximate",
          "wells": [
            "Well 8"
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "facts": {
    "hist": [
      [
        "2020",
        "City created a Stormwater Utility in July 2020 at $4.00/month per Equivalent Residential Unit, rising to $5.00 in January 2021 and $6.00 in January 2022."
      ],
      [
        "2021",
        "Council passed a wastewater rate increase of 15% per year effective March 1, 2021, January 1, 2022 and January 1, 2023, to fund digester rehabilitation and Ohio EPA-mandated phosphorus removal."
      ],
      [
        "2023",
        "Water rates rose about 5% effective March 1, taking the in-city minimum from $23.76 to $24.95 for the first 400 cubic feet."
      ],
      [
        "2024",
        "City completed its federally required initial lead service line inventory under the Lead and Copper Rule and posted it publicly."
      ],
      [
        "2024",
        "Mount Vernon participated in the fifth round of EPA's Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR5) testing, and held an unconditioned license to operate its water system."
      ],
      [
        "2026",
        "Water rates rose 7% and wastewater 11% effective April 2026, with identical increases scheduled for the second quarters of 2027 and 2028."
      ]
    ],
    "treat": "Groundwater is drawn from wells in the City of Mount Vernon well field at Riverside Park, plus an additional well on the west side of the Kokosing River behind the sludge lagoons. The source is the Buried Valley Aquifer coincident with part of the Kokosing River. The plant disinfects with chlorine…",
    "press": "Not published. No system pressure figure appears in the CCR, the rate documents or the city utilities pages.",
    "rate": {
      "g": 6.68,
      "n": "Mount Vernon bills in hundreds of cubic feet (100 cu ft = 748 gallons); the city's own wastewater FAQ states its 400 cu ft minimum equals 2,992.2 gallons, confirming the…",
      "m": 26.7
    },
    "imp": [
      [
        "Chlorine",
        "1.23",
        "ppm",
        "4 (MRDL)",
        "2024",
        "Disinfectant residual; range 1.09-1.37. No violation."
      ],
      [
        "Chlorite",
        "0.46",
        "ppm",
        "1.0",
        "2024",
        "By-product of chlorine dioxide disinfection; range 0.44-0.48. No violation."
      ],
      [
        "Chlorine Dioxide",
        "0.47",
        "ppm",
        "0.8 (MRDL)",
        "2024",
        "Disinfectant; range 0.23-0.47. No violation."
      ],
      [
        "Fluoride",
        "0.274",
        "ppm",
        "4",
        "2024",
        "Naturally occurring plus additive for dental health. No violation."
      ],
      [
        "Barium",
        "0.023",
        "ppm",
        "2",
        "2024",
        "Erosion of natural deposits; discharge of drilling wastes. No violation."
      ],
      [
        "Total Coliform",
        "Not detected",
        "presence/a…",
        "TT",
        "2024",
        "Monitored in 2024; no violation."
      ],
      [
        "Copper (90th pct)",
        "0.025",
        "ppm",
        "1.3 (AL)",
        "2022",
        "0 of 30 sites above the action level."
      ],
      [
        "Lead (90th pct)",
        "0.000",
        "ppb",
        "15 (AL)",
        "2022",
        "0 of 30 sites above the action level."
      ]
    ],
    "proj": [
      [
        "Initial Lead Service Line Inventory",
        null,
        "2024",
        "completed",
        "Published per the federal Lead and Copper Rule and linked from the 2024 CCR."
      ],
      [
        "Stormwater Utility establishment",
        null,
        "2020",
        "completed",
        "Created July 2020 at $4.00/ERU/month, stepped to $6.00/ERU by January 2022. Before the utility existed, stormwater work consumed roughly 40% of the Street…"
      ],
      [
        "Clinton Road sanitary sewer replacement and pump station upgrades",
        null,
        "2021",
        "completed",
        "Ohio EPA-mandated sanitary sewer overflow elimination project, funded by the wastewater rate increase. No standalone cost published."
      ],
      [
        "Wastewater treatment plant digester rehabilitation",
        null,
        "2021",
        "under construction",
        "The city describes two digesters 'on the verge of permanent breakdown' after operating 24/7 since the 1980s. No standalone cost published."
      ],
      [
        "Waterline extensions and improvements (Newark Road, Dixie Drive, Venture Drive, Northwest neighborhood, North…",
        null,
        "2022",
        "completed",
        "Funded from water fees; the North Sandusky Street replacement kicked off 2022. No individual costs published."
      ]
    ],
    "plan": [
      [
        "Wastewater treatment plant upgrades (Ohio EPA-mandated phosphorus removal)",
        null,
        "",
        "planned",
        "Ohio EPA has mandated phosphorus removal during treatment; the city says this will raise operating costs through additional chemicals and extra waste sludge…"
      ],
      [
        "Water treatment plant improvements",
        null,
        "2026",
        "planned",
        "The safety-service director cited future water plant improvements as a reason for the 7%/year water increases beginning April 2026. Scope and cost not yet…"
      ],
      [
        "Collections system repairs (lift stations, manholes, main lines)",
        null,
        "",
        "needed",
        "Identified by the city as an ongoing need alongside the plant work. No cost published."
      ]
    ],
    "stress": "The city's own source water assessment, quoted in the 2024 CCR, rates the Buried Valley Aquifer as having a high susceptibility to contamination: depth to water is less than 15 feet from the ground surface, and zero to 25 feet of clay is present in the vicinity of the wellfield, providing limited protection from contaminants infiltrating…",
    "sew": {
      "s": "The city runs its own wastewater treatment plant, operating continuously since the 1980s and described by the city in 2021 as deteriorating rapidly. Treatment runs preliminary (trash, sticks, debris), primary (grease, oils, fats, floatable and settleable solids), secondary (biological), and final chlorination and dechlorination before…",
      "st": "Mount Vernon has a separate Stormwater Utility, created July 2020 at $4.00/month per Equivalent Residential Unit, raised to $5.00/ERU in January 2021 and $6.00/ERU in January 2022, where it remains. Residential landowners pay 1 ERU; commercial properties pay…"
    },
    "fun": [
      "One of the city's supply wells sits on the far side of the Kokosing River, behind the water plant's own sludge lagoons.",
      "The aquifer under Mount Vernon's well field is so shallow — under 15 feet to water, with as little as zero feet of protective clay — that state assessors rate it highly susceptible to surface contamination.",
      "Mount Vernon disinfects with chlorine dioxide, unusual for a small groundwater system; the giveaway is chlorite showing up in its annual report as a by-product.",
      "The city's stormwater fee is measured in 'Equivalent Residential Units' of 2,900 square feet — before the utility existed, stormwater work was quietly eating about 40% of the Street Department's budget.",
      "The city's own rate FAQ benchmarks its sewer bill against Danville, Fredericktown and Centerburg — and Mount Vernon came out cheapest by a wide margin, $19.60 a month against Centerburg's $83.19 for the same 3,000…"
    ],
    "src": {
      "history": [
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/632/Water-Consumer-Confidence-Report-Water-Quality-Report-PDF",
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/143/Wastewater-Water-and-Stormwater-Rate-Information-PDF",
        "https://mountvernonnews.com/stories/639703369-mount-vernon-raises-water-rates-5-to-cover-rising-costs",
        "https://www.yourohionews.com/knox-county/mount-vernon-to-raise-water-and-wastewater-rates-starting-april-2026/997850"
      ],
      "treatment": [
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/632/Water-Consumer-Confidence-Report-Water-Quality-Report-PDF"
      ],
      "rates": [
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/161/Water-Rates-PDF",
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/143/Wastewater-Water-and-Stormwater-Rate-Information-PDF",
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/151/FAQ-Sheet-on-Wastewater-PDF",
        "https://www.yourohionews.com/knox-county/mount-vernon-to-raise-water-and-wastewater-rates-starting-april-2026/997850"
      ],
      "impurities": [
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/632/Water-Consumer-Confidence-Report-Water-Quality-Report-PDF"
      ],
      "projects": [
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/632/Water-Consumer-Confidence-Report-Water-Quality-Report-PDF",
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/143/Wastewater-Water-and-Stormwater-Rate-Information-PDF",
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/151/FAQ-Sheet-on-Wastewater-PDF"
      ],
      "planned": [
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/151/FAQ-Sheet-on-Wastewater-PDF",
        "https://www.yourohionews.com/knox-county/mount-vernon-to-raise-water-and-wastewater-rates-starting-april-2026/997850"
      ],
      "water_stress": [
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/632/Water-Consumer-Confidence-Report-Water-Quality-Report-PDF"
      ],
      "sewer": [
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/151/FAQ-Sheet-on-Wastewater-PDF",
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/143/Wastewater-Water-and-Stormwater-Rate-Information-PDF",
        "https://www.yourohionews.com/knox-county/mount-vernon-to-raise-water-and-wastewater-rates-starting-april-2026/997850"
      ],
      "fun_facts": [
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/632/Water-Consumer-Confidence-Report-Water-Quality-Report-PDF",
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/151/FAQ-Sheet-on-Wastewater-PDF",
        "https://www.mtvernonoh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/143/Wastewater-Water-and-Stormwater-Rate-Information-PDF"
      ]
    }
  },
  "zips_served": [
    {
      "zip": "43050",
      "share": 0.6178,
      "dominant": true
    }
  ],
  "photo": {
    "url": "/photos/OH4200812.jpg",
    "caption": "The Kokosing River in Mount Vernon, Ohio, whose buried valley aquifer supplies the city's wells",
    "credit": "Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant)",
    "license": "CC BY-SA 2.5"
  },
  "url": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH4200812/",
  "api": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/water/OH4200812.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), \"Mount Vernon City · OH4200812\", https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH4200812/, built 2026-09-16, accessed [date].",
  "schema": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/schema.json"
}