{
  "type": "water",
  "pwsid": "OH6701812",
  "name": "Kent City",
  "county": "Portage",
  "population": 29662,
  "producer": true,
  "source_class": "groundwater",
  "label": "Breakneck Creek Wellfield, Buried Valley Aquifer",
  "bodies": [],
  "intakes": [],
  "wells": 5,
  "aquifer": "Buried Valley Aquifer (Breakneck Creek wellfield)",
  "notes": "Multiple well/spring sources (Clark Springs, Kent Springs, East Hill Wells, etc.) all drawing on the buried valley aquifer beneath the Breakneck Creek/Cuyahoga basin.",
  "urls": [
    "https://www.kentohio.gov/media/jdqll2tz/ccr-2023-final.pdf"
  ],
  "chain": [
    "OH6701812"
  ],
  "plants": [
    {
      "n": "City of Kent Water Treatment Plant",
      "a": "Kent, Ohio 44240 (Water Plant Manager contact via City of Kent; exact plant street address not confirmed — city…",
      "la": 41.1537,
      "lo": -81.3579,
      "pt": "approximate",
      "wb": "Buried Valley (sand-and-gravel) Aquifer beneath Breakneck Creek",
      "src": "Groundwater wells (13+) of the Breakneck Creek Wellfield, tapping a shallow buried-valley aquifer close to the city's Water Treatment Plant; one well (No. 13) taps a sandstone bedrock formation",
      "cls": "groundwater",
      "in": [
        {
          "n": "Breakneck Creek Wellfield (sand and gravel wells)",
          "wb": "Buried Valley Aquifer - shallow sand-and-gravel deposit along Breakneck Creek, water table less than 15 ft below ground, no confining layer",
          "role": "primary",
          "src": "Wells close to the Water Treatment Plant along Breakneck Creek tapping the shallow buried-valley sand-and-gravel aquifer; two new wells drilled/being drilled 2025-2026 for redundancy (4 wells)",
          "la": 41.1537,
          "lo": -81.3579,
          "pt": "plant",
          "wells": [
            "Well 9",
            "Well 10",
            "Well 11",
            "Well 12"
          ]
        },
        {
          "n": "Well No. 13 (rock well)",
          "wb": "Water-bearing sandstone formation (bedrock), distinct from the overlying buried-valley sand-and-gravel aquifer",
          "role": "secondary",
          "src": "Well 13 is explicitly called out in Kent's CCR as a 'rock well' tapping a sandstone formation rather than the sand-and-gravel aquifer used by the other Breakneck Creek wells (1 well)",
          "la": 41.1537,
          "lo": -81.3579,
          "pt": "plant",
          "wells": [
            "Well 13"
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "facts": {
    "hist": [
      [
        "1973",
        "Ohio EPA detail plan approval established chlorine storage for eighteen 1-ton cylinders on the loading dock next to the chlorine room — an arrangement still in use in 2025 and now cited by Ohio EPA…"
      ],
      [
        "1995",
        "Kent's tap water was named Best Tasting Municipality Water at the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting, and Mayor Kathleen Chandler appeared with it on the March 3 episode of The Tonight Show…"
      ],
      [
        "2011",
        "Kent placed fifth in the municipal water category at Berkeley Springs, its sixth award from the competition since first entering in 1995."
      ],
      [
        "2023",
        "Ohio EPA identified four significant deficiencies at the Kent water system on January 24, all still under corrective action; separately, water and sewer rates rose 9% in January 2023 with the city…"
      ],
      [
        "2025",
        "The first of two new wells was drilled and pump tested; plant valves (sludge, lagoon and a 24-inch filter drain) were replaced and in-line pH and chlorine probes were added to the treatment process."
      ]
    ],
    "treat": "Groundwater is pumped from several wells close to the Water Plant in the 'Breakneck Creek Wellfield,' which taps the Buried Valley Aquifer; the exception is Well No. 13, a rock well tapping a water-bearing sandstone formation. Treatment at the City of Kent Water Treatment Plant includes softening…",
    "press": "Not published. No psi figure appears in the 2023 or 2025 Consumer Confidence Reports or on the city's water distribution pages.",
    "rate": {
      "g": 6.26,
      "n": "CAUTION ON UNITS: Kent bills per 1,000 CUBIC FEET, not per 1,000 gallons. The January 2023 rate ordinance set water at $46.83 per 1,000 cubic feet (up 9% from $42.97) with a…",
      "m": 31.3
    },
    "imp": [
      [
        "Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM)",
        "51.70",
        "ppb",
        "80",
        "2025",
        "Chlorination byproduct. Range 51.20-51.70. Consistently the highest-reading regulated contaminant in Kent's water."
      ],
      [
        "Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)",
        "12.90",
        "ppb",
        "60",
        "2025",
        "Chlorination byproduct. Range 8.74-12.90."
      ],
      [
        "Total Chlorine",
        "1.14",
        "ppm",
        "4 (MRDL)",
        "2025",
        "Range 0.90-1.3. Water additive to control microbes."
      ],
      [
        "Fluoride",
        "1.03",
        "ppm",
        "4",
        "2025",
        "Range 0.74-1.07. Raw water averaged only 0.17 mg/l, so nearly all of this is added."
      ],
      [
        "Nitrate",
        "0.499",
        "ppm",
        "10",
        "2025",
        "Runoff from fertilizer, leaching from septic tanks and sewage, erosion of natural deposits."
      ],
      [
        "Chromium",
        "2.71",
        "ppb",
        "100",
        "2025",
        "Discharge from steel and pulp mills; erosion of natural deposits."
      ],
      [
        "Nickel",
        "1.37",
        "ppb",
        "no MCL listed",
        "2025",
        "Reported by the utility as NA for MCL and MCLG."
      ],
      [
        "Bromodichloromethane",
        "5.48",
        "ppb",
        "no individual…",
        "2025",
        "Individual trihalomethane; regulated only within the 80 ppb TTHM total."
      ],
      [
        "Chloroform",
        "5.34",
        "ppb",
        "no individual…",
        "2025",
        "Individual trihalomethane."
      ],
      [
        "Dibromochloromethane",
        "5.07",
        "ppb",
        "no individual…",
        "2025",
        "Individual trihalomethane."
      ]
    ],
    "proj": [
      [
        "Wellfield rehabilitation of an existing well",
        null,
        "2023",
        "completed",
        "Completed June 2023 to add redundancy while other wells undergo maintenance. No cost published."
      ],
      [
        "Wellfield test drilling program",
        null,
        "2023",
        "completed",
        "Test drillings completed in fall 2023 with favorable results; the city stated adding more wells to the raw water supply would be necessary in coming years. No…"
      ],
      [
        "First of two new production wells",
        null,
        "2025",
        "completed",
        "Drilled and pump tested in 2025; expected to add significant redundancy to the Breakneck Creek Wellfield. No cost published."
      ],
      [
        "Water treatment plant valve replacements and in-line probes",
        null,
        "2025",
        "completed",
        "Sludge valves, lagoon valves and a 24-inch filter drain valve replaced; in-line pH probes and a chlorine probe added to the treatment process. No cost…"
      ]
    ],
    "plan": [
      [
        "Second new production well",
        null,
        "2026",
        "under construction",
        "Being drilled in 2026 to complete the two-well redundancy program. No cost published."
      ],
      [
        "500,000-gallon pedisphere tank rehabilitation and painting",
        null,
        "2026",
        "under construction",
        "Ohio EPA significant deficiency identified 1/24/2023 (unscreened venting, badly corroded access-tube ladder, poor interior and exterior coatings). Under…"
      ],
      [
        "400,000-gallon ground storage tank rehabilitation and painting",
        null,
        "2026",
        "planned",
        "Ohio EPA significant deficiency identified 1/24/2023 (anchor bolt nuts, internal overflow piping needing an external air-gap discharge, substantial interior…"
      ],
      [
        "Chlorine gas to liquid sodium hypochlorite conversion study",
        null,
        "2026",
        "planned",
        "Ohio EPA flagged outdoor storage of 1-ton chlorine cylinders as an unacceptable risk to operators and the surrounding public. AECOM is under contract to…"
      ]
    ],
    "stress": "Ohio EPA's source water assessment rates Kent's supply as HIGHLY susceptible to contamination: the sand and gravel aquifer has a shallow depth to water of less than 15 feet, the topography is flat with loam and sandy-loam soils that let a moderate to significant share of precipitation infiltrate, no confining layer exists in many areas…",
    "sew": {
      "s": "The City of Kent's Water Reclamation Division operates its own Water Reclamation Facility handling residential, commercial and industrial wastewater. Design capacity is 5 MGD with a peak hydraulic capacity of 15 MGD. Treatment is built around chemical removal of phosphorus and biological removal of ammonia along with conventional…",
      "st": "Not confirmed. No separate stormwater utility, MS4 program page or storm sewer description for Kent was located in available sources."
    },
    "fun": [
      "Kent's tap water was named Best Tasting Municipality Water at the 1995 Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting, and Mayor Kathleen Chandler carried it onto the March 3 episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.",
      "Kent's water has earned six awards at Berkeley Springs since it first entered in 1995, including first-, second- and third-place honors, most recently fifth place in the municipal category in 2011.",
      "Kent sits on the Cuyahoga River but does not drink it — the city draws entirely from the Breakneck Creek Wellfield in a buried valley aquifer, and one well, No. 13, is a rock well tapping a water-bearing sandstone…",
      "The plant softens hard water aggressively: raw water hardness averaged 304 mg/l in 2025 and came out of the tap at 101 mg/l.",
      "Kent keeps an emergency pipe connection to the City of Ravenna that it typically uses only one or two days a year — 917,000 gallons over three days in 2023, and not a single gallon in 2025."
    ],
    "src": {
      "history": [
        "https://www.kentohio.gov/media/be5lpp5a/ccr-2025-final.pdf",
        "https://www.kentohio.gov/media/jdqll2tz/ccr-2023-final.pdf",
        "https://patch.com/ohio/kent/kent-water-nabs-6th-award-in-international-contest",
        "https://www.yahoo.com/news/kent-water-sewer-bills-jump-110355724.html"
      ],
      "treatment": [
        "https://www.kentohio.gov/media/be5lpp5a/ccr-2025-final.pdf",
        "https://www.kentohio.gov/living-here/utilities/water-distribution/"
      ],
      "pressure": [
        "https://www.kentohio.gov/media/be5lpp5a/ccr-2025-final.pdf",
        "https://www.kentohio.gov/living-here/utilities/water-distribution/"
      ],
      "rates": [
        "https://www.yahoo.com/news/kent-water-sewer-bills-jump-110355724.html"
      ],
      "impurities": [
        "https://www.kentohio.gov/media/be5lpp5a/ccr-2025-final.pdf"
      ],
      "projects": [
        "https://www.kentohio.gov/media/be5lpp5a/ccr-2025-final.pdf",
        "https://www.kentohio.gov/media/jdqll2tz/ccr-2023-final.pdf"
      ],
      "planned": [
        "https://www.kentohio.gov/media/be5lpp5a/ccr-2025-final.pdf"
      ],
      "water_stress": [
        "https://www.kentohio.gov/media/be5lpp5a/ccr-2025-final.pdf",
        "https://www.yahoo.com/news/kent-water-sewer-bills-jump-110355724.html"
      ],
      "sewer": [
        "https://www.kentohio.org/181/Water-Reclamation",
        "https://www.kentohio.gov/living-here/utilities/water-and-sewer/"
      ],
      "fun_facts": [
        "https://www.kentohio.gov/media/be5lpp5a/ccr-2025-final.pdf",
        "https://patch.com/ohio/kent/kent-water-nabs-6th-award-in-international-contest",
        "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Kent,_Ohio"
      ]
    }
  },
  "zips_served": [
    {
      "zip": "44243",
      "share": 1.0,
      "dominant": true
    },
    {
      "zip": "44240",
      "share": 0.6512,
      "dominant": true
    }
  ],
  "photo": {
    "url": "/photos/OH6701812.jpg",
    "caption": "Downtown Kent, Ohio, served by the city's Breakneck Creek buried-valley well field",
    "credit": "JonRidinger",
    "license": "CC BY-SA 4.0"
  },
  "url": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH6701812/",
  "api": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/water/OH6701812.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), \"Kent City · OH6701812\", https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH6701812/, built 2026-09-16, accessed [date].",
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}