Water system
Bridgeport Public Water System
EPA ID OH0700612 · Belmont County · 2,830 people served
Bridgeport Public Water System buys its water from Martins Ferry Public Water System.
The system's record
- Aquifer
- Shallow alluvial aquifer along the Ohio River
- Water bodies
- Ohio River (via alluvial aquifer)
- Active wells
- 8
- Serves
- 6,980 people · Belmont County
- EPA ID
- OH0701212
8 wells located between the Ohio River and SR-7 in Martins Ferry, drawing from a shallow (~30 ft) high-susceptibility alluvial aquifer fed by the Ohio River.
About this area's water Martins Ferry Public Water System
Did you know
- The plant's ozone system -- oxygen plus high-voltage electricity -- is demonstrated to visitors with a jar of raw water next to a jar of ozone-treated water.
- Crews test water daily at 35 points throughout the distribution system.
- The city markets raw or treated water to shale gas operations as a 'competitively priced, consistent, local water supply,' separate from its regular retail service; water tap fees start at $1,500.
- Bridgeport abandoned its own PFAS-contaminated wells and now buys Martins Ferry water, so Martins Ferry's aquifer supplies two Ohio River towns; the two systems also keep an emergency interconnection, unused in 2025.
Source: timesleaderonline.commartinsferry.orgmartinsferry.org
History4
- 1997The current water treatment plant was completed, described by the city at the time as the most advanced facility of its kind in the region.
- not datedNeighboring Bridgeport, drawing from the same Ohio River alluvial aquifer, discontinued its own wells after PFAS was found and switched to buying finished water from Martins Ferry; Bridgeport's 2025…
- 2021A Times Leader profile reported the plant fully in compliance, with Ohio EPA testing then finding no PFAS in the eight wells.
- 2025The city's 2025 CCR reports PFOA detected in finished water at 6.1 and 5.6 ng/L under UCMR 5 monitoring -- above the 4.0 ng/L federal MCL for PFOA -- and a monitoring and reporting violation for…
Source: martinsferry.orgtimesleaderonline.commartinsferry.org
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Groundwater from eight wells at the north end of First Street, between the Ohio River and State Route 7, drawing a shallow alluvial aquifer roughly 30 feet below ground. Treatment uses a traveling bridge filter and ozonation -- ozone generated from oxygen and high-voltage electricity -- followed by…
Source: martinsferry.orgmartinsferry.orgtimesleaderonline.com
Water pressure
Not published. Neither the 2025 CCR, the city's water department page, nor the utility policy document states a distribution system pressure.
Source: martinsferry.orgmartinsferry.org
What it costs
No rate schedule is published online. The city's water department and utility office pages give only fees, not volumetric rates: water tap fees start at $1,500 (assessed by the…
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| PFOA Sampled 5/14/2025 under UCMR 5; a second sample on 11/12/2025 measured 5.6 ng/L. Both exceed the 4.0 ng/L MCL, whose… | 6.1 ng/L | 4.0 (federal… | 2025 |
| PFOA Second 2025 UCMR 5 sample, 11/12/2025. | 5.6 ng/L | 4.0 (federal… | 2025 |
| Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 8.82-13.8 ug/L; no violation. | 13.8 ug/L | 80 | 2025 |
| Haloacetic acids (HAA5) Range 7.07-8.82 ug/L; no violation. | 8.82 ug/L | 60 | 2025 |
| Fluoride Range 1.0-1.2 ppm. | 1.083 ppm | 4 | 2025 |
| Total chlorine Range 0.81-0.96 ppm. | 0.88 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2025 |
| Nitrate Not detected above the reporting limit. | <0.100 ppm | 10 | 2025 |
| Bromate Not detected; monitored because the plant ozonates. | <0.008 ppb | 10 | 2025 |
| Lead The CCR reports no violation, but its lead-and-copper table also states '1 out of 20 samples were found to have lead… | 1.80 ppb (90th… | 15 (action… | 2025 |
| Copper Zero of 20 samples above the action level. | 0.183 ppm (90th… | 1.3 (action… | 2025 |
Source: martinsferry.orgtimesleaderonline.com
EPA compliance record · Bridgeport Public Water System
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 4.8 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
9 violations of any kind logged since 2020, 9 of them paperwork (monitoring, reporting, public notice or consumer report).
EPA compliance record · Martins Ferry Public Water System (treats the water)
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 3.5 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
3 violations of any kind logged since 2020, 3 of them paperwork (monitoring, reporting, public notice or consumer report).
Projects & plans1
Planned or needed
- Combined sewer separation program · planned
The city's sewer department page describes an Ohio EPA-mandated plan to separate the combined storm and wastewater collection system, which currently causes…
Source: martinsferry.orgmartinsferry.org
Supply stress
The eight wells sit in a shallow alluvial aquifer roughly 30 feet down, directly between the Ohio River and SR 7. Ohio EPA's source water assessment rates it high susceptibility because there is no protective clay or shale layer over the aquifer, the aquifer is shallow, and businesses sit inside the protection area boundaries. That…
Sewers
Sanitary
Wastewater is treated by the East Ohio Regional Wastewater Authority (EORWA), a separate entity from the city that treats flows collected from several communities including Martins Ferry; residents receive a separate bill from EORWA for treatment. The city operates the collection system. Sewer tap fee is $2,000. Plant capacity and…
Storm
Martins Ferry still operates combined sewer lines, which the city says cause sewer backups and breaks during heavy rainfall, and is working under an Ohio EPA mandate to separate the combined storm and wastewater collection system.
Source: martinsferry.org
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Present in 1 ZIP code
Serves
No ZIP code has Bridgeport Public Water System on record as its main water supplier.
Also present in 1 more ZIP code
- 43912 · Pease Township and Bridgeport28% 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
Bridgeport Public Water System buys its water from Martins Ferry Public Water System.
No other system is on record buying water from Bridgeport 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