{
  "type": "water",
  "pwsid": "OH7400411",
  "name": "Fostoria City",
  "county": "Seneca",
  "population": 13441,
  "producer": true,
  "source_class": "river",
  "label": "East Branch Portage River (via 6 storage reservoirs)",
  "bodies": [
    "East Branch Portage River",
    "Lake Daugherty",
    "Lake Mottram",
    "Lake Lamberjack",
    "Lake Mosier",
    "Lake LeComte"
  ],
  "intakes": [
    "E Branch Portage River",
    "E Br Portage River Reservoir"
  ],
  "wells": 0,
  "aquifer": "",
  "notes": "Raw water is pumped from the East Branch Portage River into a chain of six above-ground reservoirs (Lakes Daugherty, Mottram, Lamberjack, Mosier, LeComte, and Veterans Memorial) before gravity-feeding the treatment plant; the 0 active wells confirms no groundwater use.",
  "urls": [
    "https://www.fostoriaohio.gov/DocumentCenter/View/335/Fostoria-Water-CCR2025-PDF",
    "https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/fostoria-making-reservoir-changes/512-28c24d87-4cdc-4a91-951a-5d43335be8e3"
  ],
  "chain": [
    "OH7400411"
  ],
  "plants": [
    {
      "n": "Fostoria Water Treatment Plant",
      "a": "Fostoria, OH 44830 — exact plant address not confirmed (city offices at 213 S Main St)",
      "la": 41.1587,
      "lo": -83.418,
      "pt": "approximate",
      "wb": "East Branch Portage River",
      "src": "Water drawn from the East Branch Portage River and stored across six upground reservoirs, with three groundwater wells as backup; exact plant/intake coordinates not confirmed.",
      "cls": "river",
      "in": [
        {
          "n": "East Branch Portage River intake",
          "wb": "East Branch Portage River",
          "role": "primary",
          "src": "Main river intake pumping raw water from the East Branch of the Portage River into the city's reservoir chain"
        },
        {
          "n": "River-to-Reservoir-1 pump point",
          "wb": "East Branch Portage River",
          "role": "primary",
          "src": "Second SDWIS-listed intake where river water is pumped specifically into Reservoir 1 (Lake Daugherty), the first of the interconnected storage chain"
        },
        {
          "n": "Reservoir 1 — Lake Daugherty",
          "wb": "East Branch Portage River (upground storage)",
          "role": "storage",
          "src": "11-acre upground reservoir near Herbert Court on Fostoria's east side; first in the chain of six pumped-storage reservoirs"
        },
        {
          "n": "Reservoir 2 — Lake Mottram",
          "wb": "East Branch Portage River (upground storage)",
          "role": "storage",
          "src": "17-acre upground storage reservoir near Lakeview Drive, part of the interconnected six-reservoir system"
        },
        {
          "n": "Reservoir 3 — Lake Lamberjack",
          "wb": "East Branch Portage River (upground storage)",
          "role": "storage",
          "src": "One of the six interconnected city storage reservoirs holding pumped East Branch Portage River water"
        },
        {
          "n": "Reservoir 4 — Lake Mosier",
          "wb": "East Branch Portage River (upground storage)",
          "role": "storage",
          "src": "One of the six interconnected city storage reservoirs holding pumped East Branch Portage River water"
        },
        {
          "n": "Reservoir 5 — Lake LeComte",
          "wb": "East Branch Portage River (upground storage)",
          "role": "storage",
          "src": "Largest reservoir (128 water acres), built 1969; a main river-fed storage basin that also receives direct pumped river water"
        },
        {
          "n": "Reservoir 6 — Veterans Memorial",
          "wb": "East Branch Portage River (upground storage)",
          "role": "storage",
          "src": "One of the six interconnected city storage reservoirs holding pumped East Branch Portage River water"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "facts": {
    "hist": [
      [
        "1854",
        "City of Fostoria formed by the merger of the communities of Rome and Risdon, named for landowner Charles W. Foster."
      ],
      [
        "1880s",
        "The northwest Ohio natural gas boom drove rapid growth and a wave of glass-factory openings in Fostoria."
      ],
      [
        "2024",
        "In February the city, working with ODNR, began permanently disconnecting Reservoirs 1 and 4 from the drinking water supply — both had grown too shallow to use — converting Reservoir 1 to a…"
      ],
      [
        "2025",
        "Monitoring and reporting violation: the utility failed to monitor for total microcystins during the weeks of 1/5/2025-1/18/2025. A sample was collected 1/19/2025. No health limit was exceeded."
      ],
      [
        "2025",
        "System held an unconditioned license to operate and distributed 791.26 million gallons of drinking water."
      ],
      [
        "2026",
        "In May, city finance staff outlined modest water and sewer rate increases to take effect in January, saying they used one-time funds where possible to hold the increases down."
      ]
    ],
    "treat": "Surface water is the primary source. Raw water is pumped from the East Branch of the Portage River into a series of above-ground (upground) reservoirs, then treated at the Fostoria Water Treatment Plant by lime softening, coagulation with aluminum sulfate, sedimentation, stabilization, filtration…",
    "press": "Not published in the CCR or on the city's water pages — no distribution-system psi figure is given.",
    "rate": {
      "g": null,
      "n": "No current rate schedule is posted on the city's reachable water and sewer pages, and the codified rate structure (Fostoria Codified Ordinances 945.05) is behind a host that…",
      "m": null
    },
    "imp": [
      [
        "Total Organic Carbon (TOC)",
        "2.03 (running…",
        "ratio",
        "TT — ratio must…",
        "2025",
        "A value above 1 means the plant is meeting TOC removal requirements; at 2.03 it removes about twice what is required."
      ],
      [
        "Turbidity",
        "0.09 (range…",
        "NTU",
        "TT: 1 NTU…",
        "2025",
        "Highest recorded result for the year was 0.09 NTU and 100% of samples met the 0.3 NTU limit — a filtration-performance…"
      ],
      [
        "Barium",
        "0.018",
        "ppm",
        "2",
        "2025",
        "Naturally occurring; far below the limit."
      ],
      [
        "Fluoride",
        "1.23 (range…",
        "ppm",
        "4",
        "2025",
        "Added for dental health, plus natural erosion."
      ],
      [
        "Nitrate",
        "2.26 (range…",
        "ppm",
        "10",
        "2025",
        "Highest inorganic detection; well below the MCL but reflects agricultural runoff in the Portage River watershed."
      ],
      [
        "Chlorine",
        "1.35 (range…",
        "ppm",
        "4 (MRDL)",
        "2025",
        "Residual disinfectant; compliant."
      ],
      [
        "HAA5 (haloacetic acids)",
        "21.4 (LRAA…",
        "ppb",
        "60",
        "2025",
        "Locational running annual average; disinfection byproduct, no violation."
      ],
      [
        "TTHM (total trihalomethanes)",
        "71.13 (LRAA…",
        "ppb",
        "80",
        "2025",
        "Compliant on the locational running annual average at 89% of the MCL, but individual sample results ran as high as…"
      ],
      [
        "Copper (90th percentile)",
        "0.031",
        "ppm",
        "1.3 (Action…",
        "2023",
        "All sites below the action level. Next tap sampling round scheduled for August 2026."
      ],
      [
        "Lead (90th percentile)",
        "<0.0 (as…",
        "ppb",
        "15 (Action…",
        "2023",
        "All sites below the action level. Next tap sampling round scheduled for August 2026."
      ]
    ],
    "proj": [
      [
        "Reservoir 1 and Reservoir 4 disconnection and conversion",
        null,
        "2024-2025",
        "under construction",
        "Permanently removing Reservoirs 1 (Lake Daugherty) and 4 (Lake Mosier) from the drinking water system — both had become too shallow to use — and converting…"
      ]
    ],
    "plan": [
      [
        "Lead and copper tap sampling round",
        null,
        "2026",
        "planned",
        "The city will conduct lead and copper tap testing in August 2026 under the Lead and Copper Rule; residents can volunteer their tap by contacting the water…"
      ],
      [
        "Water and sewer rate increase",
        null,
        "2026-2027",
        "planned",
        "Staff briefed council in May 2026 on modest increases effective in January; formal rate legislation was to be presented at a following meeting. Dollar amounts…"
      ],
      [
        "Completion of transition to Reservoirs 5 and 6 as sole supply",
        null,
        "",
        "planned",
        "Once the Reservoir 1 and 4 conversions finish, all of Fostoria's drinking water will come from Reservoirs 5 and 6, the newest of the six."
      ]
    ],
    "stress": "Ohio EPA's source water assessment rates the East Branch of the Portage River as having HIGH susceptibility to contamination, owing to the nature of surface water sources generally and to surrounding land uses in the watershed — the CCR is explicit that this rates potential, not current safety. Two concrete pressures: harmful algal…",
    "sew": {
      "s": "Operated by the City of Fostoria. The city is under an Ohio EPA consent order to separate stormwater from sanitary sewage — heavy rain has pushed sanitary flows into surface waters — which is the regulatory driver behind the reservoir conversion project. Plant capacity, receiving stream and the order's terms are not published on the city…",
      "st": "The Reservoir 1 and 4 conversions serve double duty as stormwater management, creating pools and a connecting stream to capture Portage River water during rainfall events and reduce downstream flooding. A separate stormwater utility or fee was not found in…"
    },
    "fun": [
      "Fostoria owns six reservoirs covering more than 450 acres of water and 700 acres of land — but two silted in too shallow to drink from, and when the current project finishes the whole city will drink from just…",
      "Lake Mosier, Fostoria's Reservoir 4, is being drained and turned into a wetland; at 91 water acres and 160 land acres it was the largest of the chain.",
      "The city was created in 1854 by merging Rome and Risdon, and named for landowner Charles W. Foster, whose son Charles Foster went on to be governor of Ohio and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.",
      "The 1880s northwest Ohio natural-gas boom made Fostoria a major American glass-manufacturing center.",
      "In 2025 the plant distributed 791.26 million gallons of drinking water — about 160,000 gallons a day for every thousand residents served."
    ],
    "src": {
      "history": [
        "https://www.fostoriaohio.gov/DocumentCenter/View/335/Fostoria-Water-CCR2025-PDF",
        "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fostoria,_Ohio",
        "https://www.13abc.com/2024/02/20/changes-coming-fostoria-reservoirs-city-officials-announce/",
        "https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/fostoria-making-reservoir-changes/512-28c24d87-4cdc-4a91-951a-5d43335be8e3"
      ],
      "treatment": [
        "https://www.fostoriaohio.gov/DocumentCenter/View/335/Fostoria-Water-CCR2025-PDF",
        "https://www.13abc.com/2024/02/20/changes-coming-fostoria-reservoirs-city-officials-announce/"
      ],
      "pressure": [
        "https://www.fostoriaohio.gov/DocumentCenter/View/335/Fostoria-Water-CCR2025-PDF"
      ],
      "rates": [
        "https://citizenportal.ai/articles/7006059/ohio/seneca-county/fostoria/Fostoria-staff-outline-modest-water-and-sewer-rate-increases-auditor-explains-fiscal-emergency-termination-process",
        "https://www.fostoriaohio.gov/1214/Water-Sewer"
      ],
      "impurities": [
        "https://www.fostoriaohio.gov/DocumentCenter/View/335/Fostoria-Water-CCR2025-PDF"
      ],
      "projects": [
        "https://www.13abc.com/2024/02/20/changes-coming-fostoria-reservoirs-city-officials-announce/",
        "https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/fostoria-making-reservoir-changes/512-28c24d87-4cdc-4a91-951a-5d43335be8e3"
      ],
      "planned": [
        "https://www.fostoriaohio.gov/DocumentCenter/View/335/Fostoria-Water-CCR2025-PDF",
        "https://citizenportal.ai/articles/7006059/ohio/seneca-county/fostoria/Fostoria-staff-outline-modest-water-and-sewer-rate-increases-auditor-explains-fiscal-emergency-termination-process",
        "https://www.13abc.com/2024/02/20/changes-coming-fostoria-reservoirs-city-officials-announce/"
      ],
      "water_stress": [
        "https://www.fostoriaohio.gov/DocumentCenter/View/335/Fostoria-Water-CCR2025-PDF",
        "https://www.13abc.com/2024/02/20/changes-coming-fostoria-reservoirs-city-officials-announce/"
      ],
      "sewer": [
        "https://www.13abc.com/2024/02/20/changes-coming-fostoria-reservoirs-city-officials-announce/",
        "https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/fostoria-making-reservoir-changes/512-28c24d87-4cdc-4a91-951a-5d43335be8e3"
      ],
      "fun_facts": [
        "https://www.destinationsenecacounty.org/place/fostoria-reservoirs/",
        "https://www.fostoriaohio.gov/DocumentCenter/View/335/Fostoria-Water-CCR2025-PDF",
        "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fostoria,_Ohio",
        "https://www.13abc.com/2024/02/20/changes-coming-fostoria-reservoirs-city-officials-announce/"
      ]
    }
  },
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      "zip": "44830",
      "share": 0.7186,
      "dominant": true
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  "photo": {
    "url": "/photos/OH7400411.jpg",
    "caption": "Historic postcard of the Fostoria, Ohio waterworks, reservoir, and filter basins",
    "credit": "This file was contributed to Wikimedia Commons by Columbus Metropolitan Library ",
    "license": "Public domain"
  },
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  "generated": "2026-09-16",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0 for the compilation; each source keeps its own terms",
  "cite": "Cracked Buckeye (Open Shower Co), \"Fostoria City · OH7400411\", https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH7400411/, built 2026-09-16, accessed [date].",
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