{
  "type": "water",
  "pwsid": "OH5100414",
  "name": "Aqua Ohio - Marion",
  "county": "Marion",
  "population": 47102,
  "producer": true,
  "source_class": "river",
  "label": "Scioto River and Little Scioto River intakes, blended with local groundwater wells",
  "bodies": [
    "Scioto River",
    "Little Scioto River"
  ],
  "intakes": [
    "Little Scioto River",
    "Scioto River"
  ],
  "wells": 18,
  "aquifer": "local wells (aquifer not verified)",
  "notes": "Aqua Ohio's Marion plant historically draws from an off-stream reservoir fed by the Little Scioto and Scioto Rivers, supplemented by 18 groundwater wells.",
  "urls": [
    "https://news.marionwatch.com/2025/12/15/the-nose-knows-looking-closer-aqua-marion-ohio-scrambles-to-switch-sources-amid-organic-contamination-fears/17/56/marion-news/admin/",
    "https://www.aquawater.com/water-quality-reports"
  ],
  "chain": [
    "OH5100414"
  ],
  "plants": [
    {
      "n": "Aqua Ohio - Marion Water Treatment Plant",
      "a": "Marion-Agosta Road, Marion, OH (just west of the city)",
      "la": 40.5885,
      "lo": -83.166,
      "pt": "approximate",
      "wb": "Scioto River and Little Scioto River, plus local groundwater wells",
      "src": "Blended surface intakes on the Little Scioto River and Scioto River near the Marion-Agosta Road plant, supplemented by 18 groundwater wells",
      "cls": "river",
      "in": [
        {
          "n": "Little Scioto River intake",
          "wb": "Little Scioto River",
          "role": "primary",
          "src": "River withdrawal west of Marion, described by Ohio EPA as the plant's supply source; exact intake point is not published",
          "la": 40.586,
          "lo": -83.19,
          "pt": "approximate",
          "sh": 70
        },
        {
          "n": "Scioto River intake",
          "wb": "Scioto River",
          "role": "secondary",
          "src": "Second river withdrawal on the main-stem Scioto several miles west of the plant; blended with Little Scioto water. Aqua has not published its location, so no point is mapped"
        },
        {
          "n": "Marion County well field",
          "wb": "Devonian limestone and dolomite bedrock aquifer beneath roughly 40-50 ft of clay-rich glacial till; the upper limestone yields about 5-100…",
          "role": "secondary",
          "src": "About 18 wells along the Little Scioto north of Holland Road, drilled deep into limestone and dolomite bedrock under thick clay (18 wells · 183 ft to over 500 ft)",
          "la": 40.5885,
          "lo": -83.166,
          "pt": "approximate",
          "sh": 30
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "facts": {
    "hist": [
      [
        "1903-1905",
        "Marion's first sewage treatment plant opened in 1903 and was operational by 1905; the State Department of Health soon judged it inadequate because it was polluting local waterways."
      ],
      [
        "1924",
        "A modern replacement sewage plant designed by consulting engineer George Gascoigne went into service, one of the few plants in Ohio achieving complete treatment year-round."
      ],
      [
        "2025-12",
        "Organic compounds in the water feeding the Marion Water Treatment Plant caused a citywide taste-and-odor complaint; Aqua adjusted intakes and treatment, shifted to primarily well water, and increased…"
      ],
      [
        "2026-07",
        "PUCO approved an Aqua Ohio rate increase of about $9.5 million in additional annual water revenue (down from the $13.4 million requested) plus $1.04 million for wastewater, affecting Marion customers."
      ]
    ],
    "treat": "Aqua Ohio's Marion plant treats surface water drawn from a river intake on the Scioto/Little Scioto system, supplemented by local groundwater wells. Operators can take the primary river intake out of service and run on primarily well water while adjusting treatment, as they did during the December…",
    "press": "Not published in sources reviewed.",
    "rate": {
      "g": null,
      "n": "PUCO case 25-0594-WW-AIR: Aqua Ohio requested $13.4M in additional annual water revenue for its roughly 47,000 Ohio customers; PUCO approved about $9.5M (plus $1.04M wastewater)…",
      "m": null
    },
    "imp": [],
    "proj": [
      [
        "Emergency source switch and enhanced treatment",
        null,
        "2025",
        "completed",
        "After the December 2025 odor event, Aqua ceased using the primary river intake, ran on primarily well water, adjusted treatment and increased testing."
      ]
    ],
    "plan": [
      [
        "Aqua Ohio system-wide infrastructure investment tied to PUCO case 25-0594-WW-AIR",
        null,
        "2026",
        "planned",
        "The July 2026 rate increase funds infrastructure spending across Aqua Ohio's territories. No Marion-specific project was identified in sources reviewed."
      ]
    ],
    "stress": "The Marion plant's river intake is exposed to upstream agricultural runoff and treated wastewater effluent, which surfaced in December 2025 when organic compounds forced Aqua off the primary river intake and onto primarily well water for several days. Local reporting also describes historical difficulty controlling disinfection…",
    "sew": {
      "s": "The City of Marion, not Aqua, runs the sanitary sewers and wastewater treatment plant, discharging to the Little Scioto River. The plant dates to 1903-1905, was rebuilt in 1924, modified in 1953, and by 1956 ran methane digesters for heating at 5.4 MGD. A 1978 activated sludge project cost $12.5 million and raised capacity to 10.5 MGD; a…",
      "st": "No separate stormwater utility was identified, but roughly 3 million gallons of stormwater per day reaches the wastewater plant — about a third of its 8.5 MGD average flow — indicating substantial inflow and infiltration into the sanitary system."
    },
    "fun": [
      "Marion's 1924 sewage treatment plant, designed by engineer George Gascoigne, was noted at the time as one of the few plants in Ohio achieving complete treatment year-round.",
      "Aqua Ohio's Marion system traces its corporate lineage to the Consumers Ohio Water Company, which was later renamed Aqua Ohio, Inc.",
      "In December 2025 a citywide complaint about earthy-tasting tap water led Aqua to shut off its primary river intake entirely and run Marion on primarily well water; the utility never identified the specific compound…",
      "About 3 million of the 8.5 million gallons Marion's wastewater plant treats each day is stormwater, so on a typical day roughly a third of what the plant handles is rain rather than sewage."
    ]
  },
  "zips_served": [
    {
      "zip": "43302",
      "share": 0.6479,
      "dominant": true
    },
    {
      "zip": "43342",
      "share": 0.2945,
      "dominant": true
    },
    {
      "zip": "43314",
      "share": 0.2548,
      "dominant": false
    }
  ],
  "photo": {
    "url": "/photos/OH5100414.jpg",
    "caption": "Marion County Courthouse in downtown Marion, Ohio",
    "credit": "User:OHWiki",
    "license": "Public domain"
  },
  "url": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH5100414/",
  "api": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/water/OH5100414.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), \"Aqua Ohio - Marion · OH5100414\", https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH5100414/, built 2026-09-16, accessed [date].",
  "schema": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/schema.json"
}