{
  "type": "water",
  "pwsid": "OH7200311",
  "name": "Fremont City",
  "county": "Sandusky",
  "population": 18319,
  "producer": true,
  "source_class": "river",
  "label": "Sandusky River (via Ballville Dam intake and city reservoir)",
  "bodies": [
    "Sandusky River",
    "Fremont Reservoir"
  ],
  "intakes": [
    "Reservoir",
    "Sandusky River"
  ],
  "wells": 0,
  "aquifer": "",
  "notes": "Intake on the Sandusky River near Ballville Dam feeds the Fremont Reservoir, which supplies the treatment plant by gravity; no active wells.",
  "urls": [
    "https://www.fremontohio.org/departments/water-treatment/",
    "https://www.fremontohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Fremont-Water-Quality-Report-2020.pdf"
  ],
  "chain": [
    "OH7200311"
  ],
  "plants": [
    {
      "n": "Fremont City Water Treatment Plant",
      "a": "Fremont, Sandusky County, OH (near the former Ballville Dam site south of the city; exact plant address not verified)",
      "la": 41.335,
      "lo": -83.132,
      "pt": "approximate",
      "wb": "Sandusky River",
      "src": "Sandusky River, drawn at the city's intake near the former Ballville Dam site (dam removed 2018-2020, replaced by a new low-head intake structure) and stored in the city reservoir before treatment",
      "cls": "river",
      "in": [
        {
          "n": "Sandusky River intake",
          "wb": "Sandusky River",
          "role": "primary",
          "src": "Low-head intake structure on the Sandusky River near the former Ballville Dam site south of the city (dam removed 2018-2020); pumps river water up to the off-line Fremont Reservoir",
          "la": 41.3225,
          "lo": -83.1264,
          "pt": "approximate"
        },
        {
          "n": "Fremont Reservoir",
          "wb": "Sandusky River (off-line/upground storage)",
          "role": "storage",
          "src": "Off-line upground reservoir built 2013 near the treatment plant to hold river water pumped from the Sandusky River, providing a buffer against nitrate spikes; water flows by gravity from the reservoir to the plant",
          "la": 41.328,
          "lo": -83.14,
          "pt": "approximate"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "facts": {
    "hist": [
      [
        "1913",
        "Ballville Dam built on the Sandusky River by the Ohio Power Company, roughly 420 feet wide and 35 feet tall."
      ],
      [
        "1959",
        "The City of Fremont purchases Ballville Dam and begins using its impoundment as a drinking water supply."
      ],
      [
        "2013",
        "Fremont opens a new off-stream water supply reservoir, taking over the storage role the dam pool had served."
      ],
      [
        "2017",
        "Ahead of the dam's removal, more than 11,000 freshwater mussels representing 14 native species, including purple wartyback and round pigtoe, are relocated upstream."
      ],
      [
        "2018",
        "Ballville Dam demolished over roughly 20 working days, following a 2017 pilot notch cut. Removal cost about $12 million against an estimated $27 million to repair and upgrade the aging dam, and…"
      ],
      [
        "2019",
        "An angler lands a lake sturgeon upstream of the old dam site — the first known sturgeon there in roughly 150 years."
      ]
    ],
    "treat": "Fremont's source is the Sandusky River, classified as surface water. Water is pumped from the river into the Fremont Reservoir and flows by gravity from the reservoir to the Fremont Water Treatment Plant at 1113 Tiffin Street. Treatment is conventional surface-water practice — filtration (turbidity…",
    "press": "Not published. No psi figure appears in the water quality reports or rate schedules available; the city's own water treatment pages could not be retrieved because the site blocks…",
    "rate": {
      "g": 9.09,
      "n": "City of Fremont water rate schedule for bills rendered on or after January 1, 2026. Residential inside city, 5/8-inch meter: $16.84 fixed monthly charge, plus a commodity charge…",
      "m": 70.06
    },
    "imp": [
      [
        "Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM)",
        "80.4 reported…",
        "ppb",
        "80",
        "2020",
        "The 2020 CCR is internally inconsistent here: the stated level found exceeds the top of its own reported range, and the…"
      ],
      [
        "Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)",
        "21.2 (range…",
        "ppb",
        "60",
        "2020",
        "Disinfection byproduct, within limit."
      ],
      [
        "Nitrate",
        "3.77 (range…",
        "ppm",
        "10",
        "2020",
        "Fertilizer runoff and septic leaching from the agricultural Sandusky watershed; within limit but well above the levels…"
      ],
      [
        "Atrazine",
        "0.28 (range…",
        "ppb",
        "3",
        "2020",
        "Herbicide runoff from row crops; within limit."
      ],
      [
        "Simazine",
        "0.06 (range…",
        "ppb",
        "4",
        "2020",
        "Herbicide runoff from row crops; within limit."
      ],
      [
        "Fluoride",
        "0.97 (range…",
        "ppm",
        "4",
        "2020",
        "Natural deposits plus fluoridation."
      ],
      [
        "Barium",
        "0.015",
        "ppm",
        "2",
        "2020",
        "Drilling wastes, metal refineries, natural deposits."
      ],
      [
        "Chlorine",
        "1.24 (range…",
        "ppm",
        "MRDL = 4",
        "2020",
        "Residual disinfectant."
      ],
      [
        "Turbidity",
        "0.10 maximum…",
        "NTU",
        "TT (0.3 NTU in…",
        "2020",
        "Filtration performance."
      ],
      [
        "Total Organic Carbon (removal…",
        "2.0 (monthly…",
        "ratio",
        "TT (must exceed…",
        "2020",
        "Fremont removed twice the required percentage of organic carbon; ratios above 1.0 are compliant."
      ]
    ],
    "proj": [
      [
        "Ballville Dam removal and Sandusky River restoration",
        12000000,
        "2018",
        "completed",
        "Removal cost about $12 million against an estimated $27 million to repair the 1913 dam. Demolition took roughly 20 working days after a 2017 pilot notch cut…"
      ],
      [
        "Fremont Reservoir",
        null,
        "2013",
        "completed",
        "New off-stream water supply reservoir, fed by pumping from the Sandusky River and draining by gravity to the treatment plant; it replaced the dam impoundment's…"
      ]
    ],
    "plan": [
      [
        "EPA-mandated improvements program (water and sewer)",
        null,
        "2026",
        "planned",
        "Effective January 1, 2026 every water connection pays a separate EPA-mandated-improvements fee ($7.77/month in city, $9.33 out of city, on a 5/8-inch meter…"
      ]
    ],
    "stress": "High. Fremont's own water quality report states that its surface water source is considered to have HIGH susceptibility to contamination, naming agricultural runoff, oil and gas wells, inadequate septic systems, leaking underground storage tanks, and road and rail crossings as potential contaminant sources. Nitrate at 3.77 ppm and…",
    "sew": {
      "s": "The City of Fremont operates its own wastewater utility, the Water Reclamation Center. Sewer rates for bills rendered on or after January 1, 2026 are tiered monthly per 100 cubic feet: in city, $6.10 on the first 200 cu ft, $5.85 on the next 4,000, $5.57 on the next 4,000, $5.34 on the next 4,000 and $4.94 above 12,200 cu ft…",
      "st": "Not verified. No storm sewer description and no stormwater utility fee appear in the 2026 water and sewer rate schedule, and the city's departmental pages could not be retrieved."
    },
    "fun": [
      "Removing Fremont's 1913 Ballville Dam in 2018 cost about $12 million — roughly $15 million less than repairing it would have — and reopened 22 miles of the Sandusky River.",
      "An angler snagged a lake sturgeon above the old dam site in spring 2019; ODNR biologists said it was likely the first one seen there in about 150 years.",
      "More than 11,000 freshwater mussels of 14 native species, including purple wartyback and round pigtoe, were hand-relocated upstream in the summer of 2017 before the dam came down.",
      "Fremont's water never touches a well: it is pumped out of the Sandusky River into a reservoir, then runs downhill by gravity to the treatment plant on Tiffin Street.",
      "Every Fremont water and sewer connection carries a separate line-item surcharge for EPA-mandated improvements on top of the normal rate — $7.77 a month on the water side and $6.95 on the sewer side for a typical in-city…"
    ],
    "src": {
      "history": [
        "https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/12/19/ballville-dam-removal-history-trends-impacts/",
        "https://www.fremontohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Water-Sewer-Rates-2026.pdf"
      ],
      "treatment": [
        "https://www.fremontohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Fremont-Water-Quality-Report-2020.pdf"
      ],
      "pressure": [
        "https://www.fremontohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Fremont-Water-Quality-Report-2020.pdf",
        "https://www.fremontohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Water-Sewer-Rates-2026.pdf"
      ],
      "rates": [
        "https://www.fremontohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Water-Sewer-Rates-2026.pdf"
      ],
      "impurities": [
        "https://www.fremontohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Fremont-Water-Quality-Report-2020.pdf"
      ],
      "projects": [
        "https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/12/19/ballville-dam-removal-history-trends-impacts/"
      ],
      "planned": [
        "https://www.fremontohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Water-Sewer-Rates-2026.pdf"
      ],
      "water_stress": [
        "https://www.fremontohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Fremont-Water-Quality-Report-2020.pdf",
        "https://www.fremontohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Water-Sewer-Rates-2026.pdf"
      ],
      "sewer": [
        "https://www.fremontohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Water-Sewer-Rates-2026.pdf",
        "https://www.fremontohio.org/departments/water-reclamation-center/"
      ],
      "fun_facts": [
        "https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/12/19/ballville-dam-removal-history-trends-impacts/",
        "https://www.fremontohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Fremont-Water-Quality-Report-2020.pdf",
        "https://www.fremontohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Water-Sewer-Rates-2026.pdf"
      ]
    }
  },
  "zips_served": [
    {
      "zip": "43420",
      "share": 0.6141,
      "dominant": true
    }
  ],
  "photo": {
    "url": "/photos/OH7200311.jpg",
    "caption": "The Sandusky River downstream of Fremont, Ohio",
    "credit": "Nyttend",
    "license": "Public domain"
  },
  "url": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH7200311/",
  "api": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/water/OH7200311.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), \"Fremont City · OH7200311\", https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH7200311/, built 2026-09-16, accessed [date].",
  "schema": "https://crackedbuckeye.com/api/schema.json"
}