{
  "type": "water",
  "pwsid": "OH4401612",
  "name": "Hecla Water Association",
  "county": "Lawrence",
  "population": 34942,
  "producer": false,
  "source_class": "ohio",
  "label": "Ohio River",
  "bodies": [
    "Ohio River"
  ],
  "intakes": [],
  "wells": null,
  "aquifer": "Ohio River Valley Aquifer",
  "notes": "Hecla built its own treatment plant/wellfield above Proctorville in 1980 and is now largely self-sufficient (8 wells, Ohio River Valley aquifer).",
  "urls": [
    "https://heclawater.com/about/",
    "https://www.softprowatersystems.com/pages/hecla-water-association-plant-pws-water-company-ohio"
  ],
  "chain": [
    "OH4401612",
    "OH4400711"
  ],
  "plants": [],
  "facts": {
    "hist": [
      [
        "1969",
        "Hecla Water Association is incorporated after laundromat owner John Howard and eight neighbors organize over poor local water quality."
      ],
      [
        "1969",
        "The new association starts with about 700 taps, buying its water from the City of Ironton and the Village of Coal Grove."
      ],
      [
        "1980",
        "Hecla builds its own treatment plant and well field above Proctorville in the Ohio River Valley Aquifer, becoming largely self-sufficient."
      ],
      [
        "1993",
        "Ironton builds an Ohio River surface-water plant (~1.74 MGD) that Hecla still uses as a secondary and emergency source."
      ],
      [
        "2025",
        "Hecla adds a water-softening step in the fourth quarter; 1 of 60 lead samples exceeds the action level in the Jul-Dec testing cycle."
      ]
    ],
    "treat": "Eight wells in the Ohio River Valley Aquifer along SR 7 near Athalia pump over 2 MGD, treated by sand filtration, fluoridation and chlorination, plus a softening step added in Q4 2025. Ironton's 1993 Ohio River plant (pre-sedimentation, upflow clarification, filtration, chlorination) is a backup.",
    "press": "No system-wide figure is published, but Hecla's customer-service materials say normal residential pressure should be 50-65 psi and that customer-installed pressure reducers be set…",
    "rate": {
      "g": 16.4,
      "n": "2025 rates: minimum bill $25.15 (District 1) to $27.15 (District 7) covering the first 1,500 gallons a month, then $16.40 per 1,000 gallons in every district.",
      "m": null
    },
    "imp": [
      [
        "TTHM (Total Trihalomethanes)",
        "51.4",
        "ppb",
        "80 ppb",
        "2025",
        "Range 14.1-81.0 ppb, no violation."
      ],
      [
        "HAA5 (Five Haloacetic Acids)",
        "28.6",
        "ppb",
        "60 ppb",
        "2025",
        "Range 0.0-52.7 ppb, no violation."
      ],
      [
        "Nitrate",
        "0.488",
        "mg/L",
        "10 mg/L",
        "2025",
        "Far below the limit; typical source is fertilizer and septic runoff."
      ],
      [
        "Fluoride",
        "1.09",
        "mg/L",
        "4.0 mg/L",
        "2025",
        "Range 0.80-1.40 mg/L; added to promote strong teeth."
      ],
      [
        "Lead (90th percentile)",
        "1.3",
        "ppb",
        "15 ppb action…",
        "2025",
        "1 of 60 samples exceeded the action level in Jul-Dec 2025; the 90th percentile stayed well under."
      ],
      [
        "Copper (90th percentile)",
        "0.211",
        "ppm",
        "1.3 ppm action…",
        "2025",
        "0 of 60 samples exceeded the action level."
      ],
      [
        "Radium-228",
        "0.84",
        "pCi/L",
        "5 pCi/L",
        "2021",
        "Reported as 0.84 +/- 0.64; no violation, naturally occurring."
      ],
      [
        "Total Hardness",
        "154.82",
        "mg/L",
        "not regulated",
        "2025",
        "9.04 grains/gallon, range 116-170 mg/L; prompted the Q4 2025 softening step."
      ]
    ],
    "proj": [
      [
        "Water softening treatment addition",
        null,
        "2025",
        "completed",
        "Softening process implemented in the last quarter of 2025 to cut natural groundwater hardness."
      ],
      [
        "Lead service line inventory",
        null,
        "2025",
        "completed",
        "Found no lead, galvanized-requiring-replacement or unknown-material lines, using records, parts inventory, visual inspections and as-builts."
      ]
    ],
    "plan": [],
    "stress": "Ohio EPA rates the well field moderately susceptible: the sand-and-gravel water table starts about 40 feet down under only 15-25 feet of sandy clay, and eight potential contaminant sources sit in the protection area - SR 7, the Ohio River, home septic systems, an auto body shop, fuel-storage commercial sites and a salvage yard. No…",
    "sew": {
      "s": "Hecla Water Association supplies drinking water only and operates no sanitary sewers. Incorporated villages in its service area, such as Chesapeake and Proctorville, run their own systems; the rural and unincorporated parts around Pedro, Kitts Hill and Waterloo are generally on individual septic systems.",
      "st": "No centralized stormwater utility was identified for this largely rural Lawrence County service area; drainage outside the villages is by natural topography and roadside ditches."
    },
    "fun": [
      "Hecla Water was founded in 1969 by laundromat owner John Howard and eight neighbors, fed up with the area's water quality; the nine of them signed the incorporation papers.",
      "It grew from roughly 700 original taps to nearly 10,000 connections, and its eight-well field now pumps over two million gallons a day.",
      "Even though its own wells meet nearly all demand, Hecla keeps a standing tie to Ironton's 1993 Ohio River plant - under 1% of daily supply, feeding only the Coryville and Porter Gap areas.",
      "Hecla added its first water-softening step only in the last quarter of 2025, after decades of naturally hard groundwater averaging about 9 grains per gallon."
    ]
  },
  "zips_served": [
    {
      "zip": "45645",
      "share": 1.0,
      "dominant": true
    },
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    },
    {
      "zip": "45669",
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    },
    {
      "zip": "45619",
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    },
    {
      "zip": "45688",
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    },
    {
      "zip": "45696",
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    },
    {
      "zip": "45678",
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    },
    {
      "zip": "45658",
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    },
    {
      "zip": "45680",
      "share": 0.2919,
      "dominant": false
    },
    {
      "zip": "45638",
      "share": 0.1952,
      "dominant": false
    },
    {
      "zip": "45682",
      "share": 0.022,
      "dominant": false
    }
  ],
  "photo": {
    "url": "/photos/OH4401612.jpg",
    "caption": "The Ohio River at Proctorville, Ohio, the source river for Hecla Water Association",
    "credit": "Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA",
    "license": "CC BY-SA 2.0"
  },
  "url": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH4401612/",
  "api": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/water/OH4401612.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), \"Hecla Water Association · OH4401612\", https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH4401612/, built 2026-09-16, accessed [date].",
  "schema": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/schema.json"
}