Water system
Winchester Public Water System
EPA ID OH0100603 · Adams County · 1,052 people served · owned by a local government
Winchester Public Water System buys its water from Adams County Regional Wd.
The system's record
- Aquifer
- Ohio River Valley Aquifer
- Active wells
- 8
- Serves
- 21,810 people · Adams County
- EPA ID
- OH0100012
8 active wells ~75 ft deep near the Ohio River east of Manchester, OH; no purchased water.
About this area's water Adams County Regional Wd
Did you know
- The district pumped 374,801,000 gallons out of the Ohio River Buried Valley Aquifer in 2025 — from just eight production wells, none deeper than 73 feet.
- Backwash from the iron and manganese filters goes into a distinctive red tank, where the sludge settles out before the water moves on.
- Thirteen separate monitoring wells sit alongside the eight production wells purely to watch the aquifer's water quality.
- The groundwater feeding the wells seeps east to west, the same direction the Ohio River flows past them.
- ACRWD's service-line inventory found no lead, no galvanized-requiring-replacement, and no unknown-material service lines anywhere in the system.
History5
- 1969Adams County Regional Water District formed; its 2025 CCR masthead reads '57 years of service! 1969-2026'.
- 1987The district's water treatment plant was built; Rick Adamson, who joined ACRWD in January 1987 as a laborer/operator, oversaw its construction.
- 2003Ohio EPA completed a source water assessment of the district's wellfield, rating the aquifer highly susceptible to contamination. The study was revised in 2024.
- 2024In November the district began installing roughly 130,000 feet of water line, improving existing mains and extending service to customers who had no access.
- 2026General Manager Rick Adamson retired after a 39-year ACRWD career (GM since 2004); Johnny Hayslip became general manager and Nathan Crothers distribution supervisor.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Groundwater only. Eight production wells drilled 65 to 73 feet into the sand-and-gravel Ohio River Buried Valley Aquifer, in a wellfield west of Wrightsville along the Ohio River, feed the district's treatment plant on Buckeye Station Road. Treatment removes iron and manganese by filtration —…
Source: acrwd.comacrwd.comacrwd.com
Water pressure
Not published in any source reviewed. ACRWD's website, CCR and rate schedule give no distribution pressure figures.
What it costs
$11.00 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $56 a month for water.
District rate schedule (billed monthly, all accounts): $23.00 minimum monthly charge on a 5/8-inch meter, which includes the first 1,000 gallons; all usage above the minimum is…
Source: acrwd.com
Water quality & impurities8
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 17.4-38.4 ppb; no violation. | 38.4 ppb | 80 | 2025 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Range ND-7.6 ppb; no violation. | 7.6 ppb | 60 | 2025 |
| Total Chlorine Range 0.92-1.13 ppm; water additive used to control microbes. | 1.02 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2025 |
| Fluoride Range 0.78-1.01 ppm; natural deposits plus additive. | 0.91 ppm | 4 | 2025 |
| Nitrate Well below the MCL; no range reported. | 0.22 ppm | 10 | 2025 |
| Barium Monitored less than annually; most recent sample 2023. | 0.021 ppm | 2 | 2023 |
| Lead (90th percentile) 0 of 30 samples exceeded the action level. | 1.8 ppb | 15 (action… | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) 0 of 30 samples exceeded the action level. | 0.854 ppm | 1.3 (action… | 2025 |
Source: acrwd.com
EPA compliance record · Winchester Public Water System
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 1.5 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
1 violation of any kind logged since 2020, 1 of them paperwork (monitoring, reporting, public notice or consumer report).
EPA compliance record · Adams County Regional Wd (treats the water)
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 1.8 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
Projects & plans4
Recent and current work
- Waterline installation and replacement program (~130,000 feet) · 2024-2026 · under construction
Began November 2024; the 2025 CCR, published in April 2026, says the district is 'currently finishing' it. Improved existing infrastructure and extended…
Source: acrwd.compeoplesdefender.com
Planned or needed
- Winchester Waterline Project · 2026 · planned
The 2025 CCR says the district will begin the project 'later this year' to provide water service to the Winchester Industrial Park. ACRWD publishes no cost.… - US 52 ductile iron waterline replacement · planned
In the planning phase per the 2025 CCR. Numerous leaks along US 52 make replacement a priority for reliability. No cost or timeline published. - Ginger Ridge Road waterline upgrade · planned
In the planning phase; a continuation of an earlier project that installed an 8-inch line from Clayton Pike to Ginger Ridge Road. Would improve supply to Old…
Source: acrwd.comadamscountyohecd.com
Supply stress
Not a quantity problem but a vulnerability one. Ohio EPA's assessment (2003, revised 2024) rates the aquifer supplying ACRWD as highly susceptible to contamination because there is no protective clay layer over it, the aquifer is shallow, and significant potential contaminant sources sit within the protection area. Groundwater seeps very…
Sewers
Sanitary
ACRWD is a water-only district and provides no sanitary sewer service; none of its published materials address wastewater. No countywide sanitary operator was identified for its rural service area (Cherry Fork, Bentonville, Aberdeen). The Village of Winchester runs a municipal sewer system that is being expanded — a new 700,000 GPD…
Storm
No storm sewer system or stormwater utility was identified for the district's largely unincorporated service area in any source reviewed.
Source: acrwd.comjobsohio.com
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Present in 1 ZIP code
Serves
Main water supplier in 1 ZIP code
- 45697 · Wayne Township and Winchester17% of residents
Population-weighted resident shares; a ZIP code can have more than one system on record. Recomputed from each ZIP's own system list, not from the map's cached footprint.
Buys from · Sells to
Winchester Public Water System buys its water from Adams County Regional Wd.
No other system is on record buying water from Winchester Public Water System.
On the map
Show this system's territory on the map — 1 ZIP code in all.
Sources
U.S. EPA SDWIS and Community Water System Service Area Boundaries (v3, 2026), Ohio EPA primacy data, 2020 census blocks: the system serving most residents, traced through purchases to the treating utility; Ohio EPA 2023 Sewer and Water Rate Survey (Ohio State, May 2025) for household bills; Ohio EPA DEFA loan awards since 2016 for the loans paragraph · EPA SDWIS · EPA service area boundaries · Ohio EPA drinking water · Ohio EPA rate survey