Water system
Bethesda Public Water System
EPA ID OH0700511 · Belmont County · 1,382 people served · owned by a local government
Bethesda Public Water System buys its water from Belmont Co. Sanitary District 3.
The system's record
- Aquifer
- Alluvial aquifer along the Ohio River, north of Bellaire
- Water bodies
- Ohio River (via alluvial aquifer)
- Active wells
- 1
- Serves
- 26,822 people · Belmont County
- EPA ID
- OH0700412
Belmont Co. Sanitary District 3 sources from a shallow, high-susceptibility well/aquifer north of Bellaire tied to the Ohio River valley.
About this area's water
Did you know
- Bethesda's original names were Burr's Mills (when the railroad arrived in 1852) and then Fairmount (1855) before it took its current biblical name from the Bethesda Methodist Church.
- The village's population has stayed relatively stable for over a century (1,182 in 1920; 1,211 in 2020), with peaks of 1,429 in 1980 and 1,413 in 2000.
- Bethesda's 1920 clock tower atop the former Orrison Cigar Company building was removed in 2010 and restored, reopening in 2017 as the Murray Family Memorial Plaza honoring military veterans.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
History5
- 1852Railroad reaches the settlement; a station named 'Burr's Mills' (after sawmill operator Merrick S. Burr) is established in Goshen Township, Belmont County.
- 1855Burr lays out a village named Fairmount; the post office (retaining the name Bethesda, after a local Methodist church) is later relocated there and its name becomes the village's permanent name.
- 1910Village of Bethesda formally incorporated.
- 2017-2023Ohio EPA repeatedly cited the village's Consumer Confidence Reports for missing required content (turbidity language, MCL/MCLG definitions, inaccurate TTHM/HAA5 data, broken CCR web link) and for a…
- unknownNo published record found of when Bethesda stopped operating its own wells/plant and began purchasing treated water from the county district.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgbethesdaohio.org
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Bethesda does not treat its own water; per its 2025 CCR it purchases finished water from the Belmont County Sanitary Sewer District (referred to elsewhere as the Belmont County Water & Sewer District), whose wells draw from an alluvial aquifer near the Ohio River in Bellaire, Ohio. No public…
Source: bethesdaohio.org
Water pressure
Not published — no CCR, engineering report, or pressure-zone map for OH0700511 or the Belmont County Water & Sewer District was located.
What it costs
No Bethesda-specific retail water or sewer rate schedule was found. The Belmont County Water & Sewer District's own posted rate (effective Jan. 1, 2025) is $26.92 minimum plus…
Source: belmontcountywater.com
Water quality & impurities9
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fluoride Range 0.89-1.19 ppm; erosion of natural deposits/water additive; no violation. | 1.08 ppm | 4 | 2025 |
| Nitrate Range 0.555-0.555 ppm; well within MCL. | 0.555 ppm | 10 | 2025 |
| Gross Alpha Erosion of natural deposits. | 0.112 pCi/L | 15 | 2020 |
| Radium 228 (combined Ra-226/228) Erosion of natural deposits. | 0.668 pCi/L | 5.0 | 2020 |
| Chlorine (residual) Additive used to control microbes; no violation. | 0.86-1.2 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2025 |
| TTHM Range 33.2-44.4 ppb; by-product of chlorination. | 44.4 ppb | 80 | 2025 |
| HAA5 Range 17.1-23.7 ppb; by-product of chlorination. | 23.7 ppb | 60 | 2025 |
| Lead (90th pct.) 2 of 60 samples exceeded the 15 ppb action level in the first half of 2025; 0 of 62 samples exceeded it in the second… | 1.75 ppb | 15 (AL) | 2025… |
| Copper (90th pct.) 0 of 60/62 samples exceeded the action level in either half of 2025 (90th pct. 0.43 ppm and 0.14 ppm). | 0.43 ppm | 1.3 (AL) | 2025… |
Source: bethesdaohio.org
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA health-based violations since 2015:
- 2024Lead and Copper Rule (lead) · treatment technique violation · returned to compliance
9 violations of any kind logged since 2020, 8 of them paperwork (monitoring, reporting, public notice or consumer report).
EPA compliance record · Belmont Co. Sanitary District 3 (treats the water)
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0 ppb in 2026 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA health-based violations since 2015:
- 2024Lead and Copper Rule (lead) · treatment technique violation · returned to compliance
4 violations of any kind logged since 2020, 3 of them paperwork (monitoring, reporting, public notice or consumer report).
Supply stress
The Ohio EPA source-water susceptibility assessment for the district's well field rates it HIGH susceptibility, citing a relatively permeable silty-clay layer over the aquifer, shallow aquifer depth (under 20 feet), VOC-contaminated soils identified within a one-year time of travel, significant potential contaminant sources in the…
Source: bethesdaohio.org
Sewers
Sanitary
The Village of Bethesda operates its own wastewater treatment facility (confirmed via the village's Public Works page), but no source was found identifying the plant's capacity, receiving stream, or any consent decree.
Storm
Not determined this session; no information found on stormwater management or flooding history for the village.
Source: bethesdaohio.org
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
- 43719 · Bethesda55% 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
Bethesda Public Water System buys its water from Belmont Co. Sanitary District 3.
No other system is on record buying water from Bethesda Public Water System.
Photograph
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
Notable facts: en.wikipedia.org
History: en.wikipedia.org, bethesdaohio.org
Water quality: bethesdaohio.org
Rates: belmontcountywater.com
Sewers: bethesdaohio.org
Treatment: bethesdaohio.org
Supply stress: bethesdaohio.org