Water system
New Bremen Village
EPA ID OH0600512 · Auglaize County · 3,034 people served · owned by a local government
New Bremen Village treats its own water from Groundwater wells (6 wells).
The system's record
The Ohio Department of Health's fluoridation report (CDC My Water's Fluoride) lists New Bremen Village as buying its water from Minster Village; EPA's inventory shows its own sources as primary with Minster Village as an emergency connection. The two records may reflect a blend or a recent switch.
- Active wells
- 6
- Serves
- 3,034 people · Auglaize County
- EPA ID
- OH0600512
About this area's water
Did you know
- New Bremen is the world headquarters of Crown Equipment Corporation, one of the largest forklift manufacturers on earth, and home to the Bicycle Museum of America.
- The village's six water wells sit on three separate properties, two of them named for the farms they stand on — Well 7 on the Isern farm and Wells 9 and 10 on the old Hehr farm.
- New Bremen was founded in 1833 by a society of 33 German immigrants who bought 80 acres and handed out the town's 102 platted lots by lottery.
- In the 2026 regional rate survey New Bremen's quarterly water bill was $124.20 while next-door Minster's was $72.00 — the cheapest of all 70 jurisdictions surveyed.
- New Bremen's fluoride is not added: it occurs naturally in the local well water at 1.59 ppm.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgnewbremen.wpenginepowered.compiquaoh.gov
History6
- 1832-1833German immigrants from Bavaria and Hanover formed the 'City of Bremen Society,' whose charter among 33 members authorized the purchase of 80 acres in German Township. Land was farmed from 1832; by…
- 1840sThe Miami and Erie Canal opened through New Bremen, bringing new markets to a struggling farming community and lowering transportation costs. The restored canal locks and lock keeper's house remain…
- 1975North water storage tower built, holding 200,000 gallons.
- 1986Village wastewater treatment plant built at 321 N. Walnut St.
- 1997South water storage tower built, holding 500,000 gallons. With both towers the village keeps roughly one day's supply in storage, which it maintains for fire insurance purposes.
- 2001New Bremen and Minster interconnected their water systems near State Route 66 and Wuebker Road, with a manually operated valve for emergency use.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgnewbremen.comnewbremen.wpenginepowered.com
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Water is pumped from six deep wells at three sites: Wells 1, 2 and 3 on the water plant property, Well 7 on the Isern farm south of Amsterdam Road, and Wells 9 and 10 on the old Hehr farm northwest of the village. The plant at 307 S. Herman St. treats it with induced draft aeration, pressure…
Source: newbremen.wpenginepowered.comnewbremen.com
Water pressure
Not published as a psi figure. Pressure is held by two above-ground towers — a 200,000-gallon north tower built in 1975 and a 500,000-gallon south tower built in 1997 — which…
Source: newbremen.com
What it costs
$5.52 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $41 a month for water.
The City of Piqua's 2026 annual regional rate survey lists New Bremen's residential water cost at $124.20 for 22,500 gallons (3,000 cubic feet) over a three-month period — $5.52…
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (90th percentile) All 10 sites below the action level; measured at the customer's tap. | 1.9 ppb | 15 (AL) | 2024 |
| Copper (90th percentile) All 10 sites below the action level. | 0.186 ppm | 1.3 (AL) | 2024 |
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 39.4-45.2 ppb. | 45.2 ppb | 80 | 2024 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Range 4.0-4.1 ppb; well below the MCL. | 4.1 ppb | 60 | 2024 |
| Total chlorine Range 0.69-0.99 ppm. | 0.828 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2024 |
| Nitrate Well below the MCL; unusually low for an Ohio farming county, reflecting the deep clay-protected aquifer. | 0.74 ppm | 10 | 2024 |
| Fluoride Occurs naturally in the well water New Bremen uses; not an additive. | 1.59 ppm | 4 | 2023 |
| Barium Erosion of natural deposits. | 0.003 ppm | 2 | 2023 |
| Cyanide Produced naturally by certain bacteria, fungi and algae. | 0.001 ppm | 0.2 | 2023 |
| Lithium (unregulated) Monitored under the fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR5). | 14 ug/L | none (no… | 2023 |
Source: newbremen.wpenginepowered.com
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 2.1 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
4 violations of any kind logged since 2020: 1 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 3 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
- Wastewater treatment plant NPDES permit renewal · 2026 · under construction
The village administrator reported in June 2026 that New Bremen had applied for a new five-year permit; the existing permit expires at the end of 2026. Not a…
Source: newbremen.wpenginepowered.com
Planned or needed
- South Franklin Street reconstruction · 2028 · planned
Street reconstruction on Franklin St running south from State Route 274, planned for 2028; Council gave first reading on August 10, 2026 to a resolution…
Supply stress
Ohio EPA rates the aquifer supplying New Bremen as having LOW susceptibility to contamination, citing a thick protective layer of clay overlying the aquifer and its significant depth — over 65 feet below ground surface. Nitrate at 0.74 ppm and the absence of detected pesticides bear this out in a heavily farmed county. The village keeps…
Sewers
Sanitary
New Bremen runs its own wastewater treatment plant at 321 N. Walnut St., built in 1986, treating roughly 650,000 gallons a day. It is a biological facility relying on natural biodegradation in aerated lagoons, followed by rock filtration and chlorine disinfection, serving about 13 miles of sewer lines. The village applied in 2026 for a…
Storm
Not detailed in the sources checked. No dedicated stormwater fee, stormwater utility, or documented flooding problem was identified.
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
- 45869 · New Bremen64% of residents
Also present in 1 more ZIP code
- 45865 · Minster0% 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
New Bremen Village does not buy water from another system on record; it treats its own source water.
No other system is on record buying water from New Bremen Village.
What the records show about New Bremen Village
Who runs it
EPA's record describes New Bremen Village as owned by a local government. It has 1,510 service connections and serves 3,034 people.
EPA classes it as a community water system, one that serves the same residents all year.
EPA's record says it has substantially implemented source water protection under Ohio's program, dating the program from 2025. Its office telephone on EPA's record is 419-629-2447.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for New Bremen Village: aeration, corrosion control, chlorine disinfection, ion-exchange softening, 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's record shows no health-based violations for New Bremen Village since 2015.
EPA logs 4 violations of any kind since 2020: 1 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 3 for a report, record or notice that was missing, late or incomplete (the yearly water quality report, a public notice, lead line records).
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 New Bremen Village was 2.1 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
EPA has 8 sampling periods on file for New Bremen Village since 2016, the first ending in 2018; 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 New Bremen Village sent EPA, 1,569 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 4 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 3 |
| Unknown material | 800 |
| Not lead | 762 |
| All lines | 1,569 |
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 2 samples of the water entering the pipes of New Bremen Village in 2023 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 New Bremen Village (latest sample September 2020). Not one of the six PFAS tested (PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS) was detected.
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 New Bremen Village's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 31.1 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 34.1 µg/L and the highest single sample was 34.4 µg/L, from 14 samples taken from 2013 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 0 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 7.5 µg/L and the highest single sample was 7.7 µg/L, from 14 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 31.1 µg/L (2019) | 34.1 µg/L | 34.4 µg/L | 14 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 0 µg/L | 7.5 µg/L | 7.7 µg/L | 14 |
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 8 samples was 0.7 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2018; in 2019, the last year sampled, nitrate was not detected. No sample was over the limit of 10 mg/L. Nitrate above 10 is unsafe for infants.
Arsenic was not detected in 2 samples (limit 10 µg/L).
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 8 | 0.7 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 2 | 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 2 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | 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. Not detected: atrazine, alachlor, chromium, cadmium, barium, mercury, selenium, and thallium, in 2 samples each.
| Substance | Kind | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atrazine | Farm chemical | 3 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Alachlor | Farm chemical | 2 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Chromium | Metal | 100 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Cadmium | Metal | 5 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Mercury | Metal | 2 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Selenium | Metal | 50 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Thallium | Metal | 2 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | 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 319 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at New Bremen Village tested positive (0%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 36 did. E. coli was never found in the 319 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 New Bremen Village buys its water from Minster Village, a system that has fluoride from natural sources, but at a level below what is recommended for preventing tooth decay, and does not adjust it. The level it reports is 0.6 mg/L.
EPA's treatment table lists no fluoridation step at New Bremen Village.
Measured fluoride: 1.65 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2017 (above the target); samples ran from 1.63 to 1.65 mg/L across 2 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 found in 2 of 2 UCMR 5 samples at New Bremen Village, highest 19 µg/L; detections averaged 16.5, last sampled in 2023.
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.
Water and sewer bills
Ohio EPA's 2023 rate survey puts the water bill at New Bremen Village for a household using 5,000 gallons a month at $333 a year, about $28 a month.
The sewer bill in the same survey is $384 a year at 5,000 gallons a month.
| Use | Water, per year | Sewer, per year |
|---|---|---|
| 2,500 gallons a month | $207 | $230 |
| 5,000 gallons a month | $333 | $384 |
| 8,000 gallons a month | $485 | $570 |
The survey lists it as “New Bremen”. These are inside-city rates and annual bills at the use shown.
Source: Ohio EPA 2023 Sewer and Water Rate Survey (Ohio State University, May 2025).
How well the service area is mapped
The service area drawn on the map for New Bremen Village comes from the utility's own map.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 2,913 residents are inside the boundary, 96% of the 3,034 people New Bremen Village 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 OH0600512 (EPA ECHO).
Notable facts: en.wikipedia.org, newbremen.wpenginepowered.com, piquaoh.gov, newbremen.com
History: en.wikipedia.org, newbremen.com, newbremen.wpenginepowered.com, newbremen.wpenginepowered.com
Water quality: newbremen.wpenginepowered.com
Planned work: newbremen.wpenginepowered.com, newbremen.com
Water pressure: newbremen.com
Capital projects: newbremen.wpenginepowered.com
Rates: piquaoh.gov, piquaoh.gov, newbremen.com
Sewers: newbremen.com, newbremen.wpenginepowered.com
Treatment: newbremen.wpenginepowered.com, newbremen.com
Supply stress: newbremen.wpenginepowered.com, newbremen.com
