Water system
Conneaut
EPA ID OH0400411 · Ashtabula County · 12,538 people served · owned by a local government
Conneaut treats its own water from Lake Erie.
The system's record
- Water bodies
- Lake Erie
- Raw intakes
- Conneaut Lake Erie
- Serves
- 12,538 people · Ashtabula County
- EPA ID
- OH0400411
About this area's water

Did you know
- Conneaut's drinking water starts about 1,900 feet out in Lake Erie, at roughly 20 feet of depth, through an intake structure with three underwater cribs that has been in service since 1933.
- The first chemical added is not a disinfectant: potassium permanganate is fed right at the intake specifically to keep invasive zebra mussels from clogging it.
- Conneaut Harbor is a dry-bulk coal port sitting beside the water intake's protection zone - about 5.7 million tons of coal moved through it in the 2002 navigation season, down from more than 7 million in 2001.
- Conneaut is Ohio's northeasternmost city, in the corner where the state meets Pennsylvania on the Lake Erie shore.
- In 2025 a single one of 30 lead tap samples came back at 430 ppb - 29 times the action level - yet the system's 90th-percentile result was 2.2 ppb, so no exceedance was triggered.
History6
- 1933The Conneaut water treatment facility and its Lake Erie intake structure - one intake with three cribs, about 1,900 feet offshore in roughly 20 feet of water - were constructed.
- 1991-2002Ohio EPA compliance monitoring of treated water over this period found no contaminants of concern tied to the Lake Erie source, per the 2003 source water assessment.
- 2003Ohio EPA published the Drinking Water Source Assessment for Conneaut, identifying 24 oil/gas production wells and 33 potential contaminant sources in the Potential Influence Zone, and calculating an…
- 2025-01-22System failed to report manganese: the sample was shipped to a state lab and lost in transit during a severe winter storm.
- 2025-05-15System failed to report sample results to Ohio EPA within the required time frame; the city enacted a more comprehensive management plan in response.
- 2025System held an unconditioned license to operate and reported no violations affecting consumer health; 82 different contaminants were sampled.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Lake Erie water enters through a single 1933 intake structure with three cribs, about 1,900 feet offshore at roughly 20 feet depth (about one-third mile north of the plant), where a potassium permanganate feed controls zebra mussels. Treatment is screening, chemical addition, rapid mixing…
Source: webgen1files.revize.comwebgen1files.revize.com
Water pressure
Not published. Four elevated storage tanks and one standpipe hold approximately 1.97 million gallons; no distribution pressure figure is published.
Source: webgen1files.revize.com
What it costs
$9.94 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $48 a month for water.
2026 tiered residential schedule for City of Conneaut sections I, II, III and V: $27.75 minimum for the first 2,000 gallons, then $9.94 per 1,000 gallons for the next 8,000, $9.04…
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 9.40-34 ppb; disinfection by-product; no violation. | 32.85 ppb | 80 | 2025 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Range 0-31.8 ppb; disinfection by-product; no violation. | 22.68 ppb | 60 | 2025 |
| Total Chlorine Range 1.37-1.75 ppm; disinfectant residual. | 1.63 ppm | MRDL 4 | 2025 |
| Fluoride Range 0.86-1.16 ppm; natural deposits plus additive. | 0.99 ppm | 4 | 2025 |
| Barium Drilling wastes, metal refinery discharge, erosion of natural deposits. | 0.017 ppm | 2 | 2025 |
| Nitrate Range 0-0.500 ppm; well below the limit. | 0.500 ppm | 10 | 2025 |
| Turbidity Range 0.06-0.16 NTU; 100% of monthly samples met the limit. | 0.16 NTU | TT (treatment… | 2025 |
| Total Organic Carbon (removal ratio) Range 1.00-1.33; in compliance, but with little margin. | 1.09 ratio | TT (must exceed… | 2025 |
| Lead (90th percentile) 1 of 30 samples exceeded the 15 ppb action level, with the individual result reported at 430 ppb; no action-level… | 2.2 ppb | 15 (action… | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) 1 of 30 samples exceeded the 1.3 ppm action level, with the individual result at 1.5 ppm; 90th percentile below the… | 0.43 ppm | 1.3 (action… | 2025 |
Source: webgen1files.revize.comconneautohio.gov
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 2.2 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA health-based violations since 2015:
- 2016Surface Water Treatment Rule · required treatment not met · known
2 violations of any kind logged since 2020: 1 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 1 for a report, record or notice that was missing, late or incomplete (the yearly water quality report, a public notice, lead line records).
Projects & plans2
Recent and current work
- Intake crib repairs · 2003 · completed
Two of the three intake cribs had recently been repaired as of the 2003 Ohio EPA source water assessment, with the third scheduled for maintenance that year.… - Wastewater Treatment Plant mercury reduction project
The city's wastewater page posts a mercury reduction project presentation and supporting material on mercury usage. No cost, schedule or completion date is…
Supply stress
The 2025 CCR states the Conneaut drinking water protection area is susceptible to contamination from municipal wastewater discharges, industrial wastewater discharges, atmospheric deposition, residential and urban runoff, contaminated river sediments, oil and gas production and transportation, and accidental releases from rail…
Sewers
Sanitary
City of Conneaut Wastewater Treatment Plant, 1206 Broad St. Ext. (440-593-7434). The 2003 source water assessment identifies municipal wastewater treatment discharge as one of the potential contaminant sources in the intake's protection area. The plant posts a mercury reduction project. Ohio EPA's 2022 rate survey lists an annual…
Storm
Not published. Ohio EPA's 2022 rate survey records no residential stormwater charge for Conneaut, and the city posts no stormwater utility or MS4 page; combined-vs-separate sewer status is not stated.
Source: conneautohio.govwebgen1files.revize.comdam.assets.ohio.gov
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Main supplier in 1 ZIP code
Serves
Main water supplier in 1 ZIP code
- 44030 · Conneaut72% of residents
Also present in 1 more ZIP code
- 44048 · Kingsville Township and Kingsville2% 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
Conneaut does not buy water from another system on record; it treats its own source water.
No other system is on record buying water from Conneaut.
What the records show about Conneaut
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Conneaut as owned by a local government. It has 5,534 service connections and serves 12,538 people.
EPA classes it as a community water system, one that serves the same residents all year.
Its office telephone on EPA's record is 440-593-7401.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Conneaut: corrosion control, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, iron and manganese removal, fluoridation, powdered activated carbon, and sand or media filtration.
The list is what each system registered with EPA for treatment plants EPA still shows as active, and it can lag a plant upgrade.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) treatment table (EPA Envirofacts, pulled September 2026).
Violations
EPA counts 1 health-based violation for Conneaut since 2015. Health-based means a contaminant above its legal limit or a required treatment step not carried out. It falls into 1 separate problem (one contaminant or rule in one year); the table lists it.
EPA logs 2 violations of any kind since 2020: 1 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 1 for a report, record or notice that was missing, late or incomplete (the yearly water quality report, a public notice, lead line records).
| Year | Contaminant or rule | Kind | Measured | Limit | Status in EPA's record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Surface Water Treatment Rule | required treatment not met | not on file | not on file | known |
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) violation records: health-based violations with compliance periods beginning in 2015 or later, all violations from 2020 or later (EPA Envirofacts, pulled September 2026).
Lead and copper at the tap
In the sampling period ending December 2025, the 90th-percentile lead result at Conneaut was 2.2 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
EPA has 5 sampling periods on file for Conneaut since 2016, the first ending in 2017; no period was above 10 ppb.
Every water system has to inventory its service lines, the pipes from the main to each building. In the inventory Conneaut sent EPA, 5,296 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 8 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 2,385 |
| Not lead | 2,903 |
| All lines | 5,296 |
Systems sample taps in the homes most likely to have lead pipes or solder. The 90th-percentile result is the level nine in ten of the sampled homes were at or below. Lead comes mostly from service lines and house plumbing, not the source water, so a low result for the system does not clear an old house.
EPA's dashboard status for this inventory: reported all required service line types.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) lead and copper 90th-percentile results (EPA Envirofacts), sampling periods ending 2016 or later; EPA's service line inventory dashboard, Ohio's 2026 Q2 submission.
PFAS
EPA's fifth national round of testing (UCMR 5) took 4 samples of the water entering the pipes of Conneaut in 2024 to 2025 and measured 29 PFAS. No PFAS was detected, PFOA and PFOS (federal limit 4 ng/L each) among them.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Conneaut (latest sample August 2020). Not one of the six PFAS tested (PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS) was detected.
Ohio EPA's current sampling status map lists 1 plant of Conneaut as sampled, most recently July 2025.
PFAS are the 'forever chemicals' from firefighting foam, plating shops and non-stick coatings. Results are for water leaving the plant, not your tap.
Source: EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data (final release, August 2026); Ohio EPA statewide PFAS sampling, 2019 to 2021, and its sampling status map.
Disinfection byproducts
Chlorine that disinfects water also reacts with organic matter to form byproducts. Two groups have federal limits: total trihalomethanes (TTHM, 80 µg/L) and five haloacetic acids (HAA5, 60 µg/L), judged on running yearly averages at each sampling site.
For TTHM, the average of Conneaut's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 27.5 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 68.3 µg/L and the highest single sample was 73.5 µg/L, from 88 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 16.9 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 32.6 µg/L and the highest single sample was 56.4 µg/L, from 88 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 27.5 µg/L (2019) | 68.3 µg/L | 73.5 µg/L | 88 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 16.9 µg/L | 32.6 µg/L | 56.4 µg/L | 88 |
A yearly average of 0 means nothing was detected in that year's samples. EPA's file stops at 2019; Ohio EPA's Drinking Water Watch has newer results.
Source: EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, distribution-system samples (non-detects counted as zero).
Nitrate, arsenic and radioactivity
Nitrate: the highest of 96 samples was 0.7 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2016; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 0.67 mg/L. No sample was over the limit of 10 mg/L. Nitrate above 10 is unsafe for infants.
Arsenic was not detected in 8 samples (limit 10 µg/L).
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 96 | 0.7 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 8 | not detected | 10 µg/L | 0 |
Measured in finished water: at the plant's entry points and in the distribution system; raw well and intake samples are left out. Non-detects count as zero.
Source: EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, finished water.
Solvents and fuels
EPA's file holds results for all six solvent and fuel compounds it checked. Benzene, carbon tetrachloride, 1,2-dichloroethane, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and vinyl chloride were not detected in 9 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
"Not detected" means the lab's result was below what its method can measure, not that the compound is absent. Non-detects count as zero in the highest-result column.
Source: EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, finished water.
Farm chemicals and metals
EPA's file holds results for 8 of the nine herbicides and metals it checked. Detected: barium in 7 of 8 samples, highest 23 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine, alachlor, chromium, cadmium, mercury, selenium, and thallium, in 8 samples each.
| Substance | Kind | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atrazine | Farm chemical | 3 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Alachlor | Farm chemical | 2 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Chromium | Metal | 100 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Cadmium | Metal | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 8 | 7 of 8 | 23 µg/L | 0 |
| Mercury | Metal | 2 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Selenium | Metal | 50 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Thallium | Metal | 2 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
Non-detects count as zero in the highest-result column.
Source: EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, finished water.
Bacteria in the pipes
From 2012 to 2019, 0 of 962 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Conneaut tested positive (0%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 120 did. E. coli was never found in the 962 samples tested for it.
A positive coliform test is a warning sign, not a violation by itself. E. coli is a sign that human or animal waste may have reached the water. Coliform counts are routine samples only; E. coli counts include repeat samples.
Source: EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, distribution-system presence/absence tests for total coliform and E. coli.
Fluoride
The Ohio Department of Health's report to the CDC (My Water's Fluoride) says Conneaut adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at Conneaut.
Measured fluoride: 1.05 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2019 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.87 to 1.09 mg/L across 8 samples in 2012 to 2019.
The recommended level for preventing tooth decay is 0.7 mg/L; the federal limit is 4 mg/L. The treatment list is what each system registered with EPA and can lag a plant upgrade.
Source: CDC My Water's Fluoride (fluoridation status as reported by the Ohio Department of Health, fetched September 2026); EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) treatment table; EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, entry-point fluoride samples.
Lithium
Lithium was not detected in 4 UCMR 5 samples at Conneaut, last sampled in 2025 (the method reports from 9 µg/L).
Lithium is not regulated. EPA's draft health reference level is 10 µg/L, and it occurs naturally in deep groundwater, so well systems in the northwest run highest.
Source: EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data (final release, August 2026), samples from 2023 to 2025.
Algal toxins
Ohio EPA tests for microcystin, a toxin that harmful algal blooms can release, in raw water at the intake and in treated water.
At the intake, microcystin was detected 14 times in 237 raw-water samples, across 3 bloom seasons (2016 to 2023); the highest raw-water result was 1.23 µg/L on September 26, 2017. There has been no raw-water detection since 2024.
Microcystin was never detected in treated water (97 samples).
In all, 334 samples from 2016 to 2026, the latest on August 24, 2026.
| Water | Samples | Detections | Highest result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw water, at the intake | 237 | 14 | 1.23 µg/L |
| Treated water | 97 | 0 | not detected |
The ten-day advisory levels for treated water are 0.3 µg/L for children under six and 1.6 µg/L for everyone else. Any detection at the intake triggers more frequent testing until two clean weeks.
Source: Ohio EPA public water system harmful algal bloom monitoring, 2016 to present (HAB data, fetched September 2026).
How well the service area is mapped
EPA estimated the service area of Conneaut with a computer model rather than drawing it from the utility's map, so its edges are approximate.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 11,537 residents are inside the boundary, 92% of the 12,538 people Conneaut reports serving.
The resident count is an estimate from 2020 Census ZIP-code populations, not a count of customers.
Source: EPA Service Area Boundaries; resident estimate by this atlas from ZIP-code overlap.
Photograph
On the map
Show this system's territory on the map — 2 ZIP codes 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
EPA's own record for this system: Enforcement and Compliance History report for OH0400411 (EPA ECHO).
Conneaut's own pages: conneautohio.org
Notable facts: webgen1files.revize.com, webgen1files.revize.com
History: webgen1files.revize.com, webgen1files.revize.com
Water quality: webgen1files.revize.com, conneautohio.gov
Water pressure: webgen1files.revize.com
Capital projects: webgen1files.revize.com, conneautohio.gov
Rates: conneautohio.gov, dam.assets.ohio.gov
Sewers: conneautohio.gov, webgen1files.revize.com, dam.assets.ohio.gov
Treatment: webgen1files.revize.com, webgen1files.revize.com
Supply stress: webgen1files.revize.com, webgen1files.revize.com
