Water system
St. Clairsville, City Of
EPA ID OH0701516 · Belmont County · 5,097 people served · owned by a local government
St. Clairsville, City Of treats its own water from St. Clairsville Main & Provident Reservoirs (local runoff).
The system's record
Also purchases some water from Belmont Co. Sanitary District 3 (Ohio River valley aquifer (wells)).
- Water bodies
- St. Clairsville Municipal (Main) Reservoir, St. Clairsville Provident Reservoir
- Raw intakes
- St. Clairsville Provident Reserv
St. Clairsville Reserv - Serves
- 5,097 people · Belmont County
- EPA ID
- OH0701516
About this area's water
Did you know
- The city's two reservoirs are named, plainly, 'Main' and 'Provident' — and when the main one runs low the city pumps water from Provident through a pipeline all the way across town into the main reservoir.
- Its drought insurance is somebody else's aquifer: the Belmont County Water and Sewer District's well water arrives already treated and goes straight into the city's water towers.
- The backup is turning into a habit — the county connection is normally used about 12 days a year, but in 2025 it ran 115 days and delivered 25.4 million of the roughly 172 million gallons the city put out.
- In 2019, with the reservoir down 8 to 10 feet, the mayor wanted to sell the whole system to Aqua Ohio; council members and two mayoral candidates pushed back, and the city still owns and runs it today.
Source: stclairsville.commariettatimes.comtimesleaderonline.com
History6
- 1796The settlement is established as Newellstown.
- 1802Renamed St. Clairsville in honor of Gen. Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory; it is the seat of Belmont County.
- 2016An October drought forces the city to draw on the Provident Reservoir for a limited time — the only prior use officials could recall before 2019.
- 2019Drought drops the main reservoir 8 to 10 feet, roughly a 50% loss on a reservoir that holds about 27 million gallons and is not much more than 16 feet deep; the city prepares to take its full…
- 2024A statewide drought that began in mid-June pushes the reservoir to the lowest level the service director had seen in ten years (longtime employees recalled lower levels in the late 1990s and early…
- 2025An underdrain failure in the plant's second filter causes treatment-technique violations for inadequate filtration in October and December, with turbidity peaking at 12.83 NTU; the city operates on a…
Source: stclairsville.comtimesleaderonline.commariettatimes.com
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
The city treats its own surface water from two small local-runoff impoundments: the main reservoir on Reservoir Road and the Provident Reservoir on Vineyard Road, north of the city. Conventional filtration and chlorination; fluoride is present at up to 1.41 ppm and free chlorine averaged 1.38 ppm…
Source: stclairsville.comstclairsville.com
Water pressure
Not published. No distribution pressure figures appear in the city's CCR, rate schedule or department pages.
What it costs
$16.51 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $83 a month for water.
Rising-block schedule effective Sept. 5, 2025. Residential/commercial inside the city: $15.58 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000; $16.74 for the next 2,000; $17.89 for the next…
Source: stclairsville.com
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turbidity VIOLATION. Range 0.04-12.83 NTU; lowest monthly percentage of samples meeting the limit was 97%. Caused by an… | 12.83 NTU | 0.3 NTU in 95%… | 2025 |
| Total organic carbon (removal ratio) VIOLATION. Range of monthly ratios 0.81-1.42; a value below 1 means the required percentage of TOC was not removed. | 0.81 ratio… | TT | 2025 |
| Haloacetic acids (HAA5) Range 46.7-59.3 ppb — the running average sits close to the limit and individual results reached 59.3. By-product of… | 52.83 ppb | 60 ppb (MCL) | 2025 |
| Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 30.70-73.5 ppb; by-product of chlorination. | 55.78 ppb | 80 ppb (MCL) | 2025 |
| Fluoride Range 0.55-1.41 ppm. | 1.41 ppm | 4 ppm (MCL) | 2025 |
| Nitrate Range 0.14-1.64 ppm; runoff from fertilizer and leaching from septic systems. | 1.64 ppm | 10 ppm (MCL) | 2025 |
| Total chlorine Range 1.13-1.74 ppm. | 1.38 ppm | 4 ppm (MRDL) | 2025 |
| Barium Discharge of drilling wastes and from metal refineries; erosion of natural deposits. | 0.05 ppm | 2 ppm (MCL) | 2025 |
| Selenium Discharge from petroleum and metal refineries; erosion of natural deposits; mine discharge. | 3.75 ppb | 50 ppb (MCL) | 2025 |
| Chromium Discharge from steel and pulp mills; erosion of natural deposits. | 1.03 ppb | 100 ppb (MCL) | 2025 |
Source: stclairsville.com
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0 ppb in 2026 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA health-based violations since 2015:
- 2025Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule · turbidity above the limit in a single reading · known
- 2024Haloacetic acids (HAA5) · above the legal limit on average · measured 0.065 MG/L (limit 0.06 MG/L) · returned to compliance
- 2019Surface Water Treatment Rule · required treatment not met · returned to compliance
EPA's count of 4 includes 1 repeat quarterly violation of the problems listed.
19 violations of any kind logged since 2020: 8 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 8 for a report, record or notice that was missing, late or incomplete (the yearly water quality report, a public notice, lead line records); 3 health-based.
Projects & plans8
Recent and current work
- Belmont County backup water purchase agreement · 2019 · completed
The city began buying up to its full contractual 325,000 gallons a day from the Belmont County Water and Sewer District during the 2019 drought; by 2024 the… - Water Distribution Improvement Project (Phase I) · 2025 · under construction
Referenced in the 2025 CCR: service line materials were verified by visual inspection by James White Construction as the distribution system replacement… - Ohio EPA-mandated sanitary sewer smoke testing · 2026 · under construction
Smoke testing of sanitary sewer lines resumed Sept. 8-11, 2026 on Orchard Drive, all of Spring Park, and East Main Street from Orchard Drive to Commons…
Source: stclairsville.comstclairsville.comtimesleaderonline.com
Planned or needed
- Filter No. 2 underdrain replacement and backwash pressure gauges · 2026 · needed
Corrective action for the 2025 turbidity treatment-technique violation: the filter has been taken out of service, the failed underdrain system will be… - Water Distribution Improvement Project - Phase II · 2026 · planned
Ordinance 2026-30 (Aug. 18, 2026) directs the Director of Public Services to solicit competitive bids; no cost is published. - Efaw Lift Station Project (sanitary sewer) · 2026 · planned
Ordinance 2026-29 authorizes execution of a notice of award and contract with the James White Construction Company; no contract amount is published on the city… - Reservoir intake sediment removal · $1 million · 2019 · needed
The plant's lower intake is plugged under an estimated 10 to 12 feet of sediment and would require a diver; the then-service director called it 'probably a… - Broader water plant and distribution system upgrades · 2019 · needed
Ohio EPA mandated upgrades after finding algal blooms capable of producing toxins; the mayor put plant and distribution upgrades 'in the tens of millions of…
Supply stress
High. The city depends on two small, rain-fed local impoundments with no river or aquifer of its own — the main reservoir holds only about 27 million gallons and is barely 16 feet deep — and it has drawn down hard in the 2016, 2019 and 2024 droughts. Its only fallback is purchased Belmont County groundwater, capped by agreement (325,000…
Source: stclairsville.commariettatimes.comtimesleaderonline.com
Sewers
Sanitary
The city runs its own combined Water and Wastewater Department under Water Superintendent Mike Reed, treating its wastewater locally, with billing through the Municipal Utilities Office. Sewer rates effective Sept. 5, 2025, residential/commercial inside city: $14.07 per 1,000 gallons for the first 2,000; $14.91 for the next 2,000; $15.76…
Storm
Not published. The city publishes no stormwater utility fee, CSO inventory or flooding information; the Ohio EPA-mandated smoke testing implies an inflow-and-infiltration problem in the separate sanitary system, but no storm sewer detail is available.
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 2 ZIP codes
- 43950 · Richland Township and Saint Clairsville73% of residents
- 43905 · Colerain Township and Barton30% of residents
Also present in 2 more ZIP codes
- 43912 · Pease Township and Bridgeport0% of residents
- 43906 · Bellaire0% 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
St. Clairsville, City Of does not buy water from another system on record; it treats its own source water.
No other system is on record buying water from St. Clairsville, City Of.
What the records show about St. Clairsville, City Of
Who runs it
EPA's record describes St. Clairsville, City Of as owned by a local government. It has 2,423 service connections and serves 5,097 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 2023.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for St. Clairsville, City Of: 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 4 health-based violations for St. Clairsville, City Of since 2015. Health-based means a contaminant above its legal limit or a required treatment step not carried out. They fall into 3 separate problems (one contaminant or rule in one year); the table lists them all.
EPA logs a violation for each compliance period a problem lasts, so the count of 4 includes 1 repeat entry of the problems listed.
EPA logs 19 violations of any kind since 2020: 8 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 8 for a report, record or notice that was missing, late or incomplete (the yearly water quality report, a public notice, lead line records); 3 health-based.
| Year | Contaminant or rule | Kind | Measured | Limit | Status in EPA's record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule | turbidity above the limit in a single reading | not on file | not on file | known |
| 2024 | Haloacetic acids (HAA5) | above the legal limit on average | 0.065 mg/L | 0.06 mg/L | returned to compliance |
| 2019 | Surface Water Treatment Rule | required treatment not met | not on file | not on file | returned to compliance |
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 June 2026, the 90th-percentile lead result at St. Clairsville, City Of was 0 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027. A result of 0 means at least nine in ten of the homes sampled had no lead detected.
The highest result on file is 1.8 ppb, in the period ending December 2018.
EPA has 5 sampling periods on file for St. Clairsville, City Of since 2016, the first ending in 2016; 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 St. Clairsville, City Of sent EPA, 1,117 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 2 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 0 |
| Not lead | 1,115 |
| All lines | 1,117 |
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 St. Clairsville, City Of in 2024 and measured 29 PFAS.
The highest PFOA or PFOS result, 6.4 ng/L, is at or above the federal limit of 4 ng/L that EPA set in 2024. Systems have until 2029 to comply, and in May 2026 EPA proposed letting systems apply for two more years. One sample over the limit is not a violation: compliance is judged on a running annual average.
The highest PFAS result was PFOA 6.4 ng/L.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of St. Clairsville, City Of (latest sample March 2021). Not one of the six PFAS tested (PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS) was detected.
| Compound | Highest result | Federal limit |
|---|---|---|
| PFOA | 6.4 ng/L | 4 ng/L |
| PFOS | not detected | 4 ng/L |
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 St. Clairsville, City Of's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 35.7 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 61.1 µg/L and the highest single sample was 105 µg/L, from 60 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 16 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 50.8 µg/L and the highest single sample was 86.4 µg/L, from 60 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 35.7 µg/L (2019) | 61.1 µg/L | 105 µg/L | 60 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 16 µg/L | 50.8 µg/L | 86.4 µg/L | 60 |
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 1.06 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2013; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 0.6 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 | 1.06 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 8 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | 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: chromium in 1 of 8 samples, highest 2.5 µg/L (limit 100); barium in 8 of 8 samples, highest 60.7 µg/L (limit 2,000); selenium in 1 of 8 samples, highest 1.1 µg/L (limit 50). Not detected: atrazine, alachlor, cadmium, mercury, 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 | 1 of 8 | 2.5 µg/L | 0 |
| Cadmium | Metal | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 8 | 8 of 8 | 60.7 µg/L | 0 |
| Mercury | Metal | 2 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Selenium | Metal | 50 µg/L | 8 | 1 of 8 | 1.1 µg/L | 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 576 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at St. Clairsville, City Of tested positive (0%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 72 did.
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 St. Clairsville, City Of adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at St. Clairsville, City Of.
Measured fluoride: 1.06 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2019 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.8 to 1.07 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 St. Clairsville, City Of, last sampled in 2024 (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 7 times in 232 raw-water samples, across 3 bloom seasons (2024 to 2026); the highest raw-water result was 0.87 µg/L on August 27, 2024. The highest raw-water result since 2024 was 0.87 µg/L.
Microcystin was never detected in treated water (119 samples).
In all, 351 samples from 2016 to 2026, the latest on August 25, 2026.
| Water | Samples | Detections | Highest result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw water, at the intake | 232 | 7 | 0.87 µg/L |
| Treated water | 119 | 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).
Water and sewer bills
The sewer bill in the same survey is $843 a year at 5,000 gallons a month.
| Use | Water, per year | Sewer, per year |
|---|---|---|
| 2,500 gallons a month | not on file | $407 |
| 5,000 gallons a month | not on file | $843 |
| 8,000 gallons a month | not on file | $1,393 |
The survey lists it as “St. Clairsville”. 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
EPA estimated the service area of St. Clairsville, City Of 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 12,010 residents are inside the boundary, 236% of the 5,097 people St. Clairsville, City Of 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 — 4 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 OH0701516 (EPA ECHO).
St. Clairsville, City Of's own pages: mariettatimes.com, timesleaderonline.com
Notable facts: stclairsville.com, mariettatimes.com, timesleaderonline.com
History: stclairsville.com, timesleaderonline.com, mariettatimes.com, stclairsville.com
Water quality: stclairsville.com
Planned work: stclairsville.com, stclairsville.com, stclairsville.com, timesleaderonline.com
Capital projects: stclairsville.com, stclairsville.com, timesleaderonline.com, mariettatimes.com
Rates: stclairsville.com
Sewers: stclairsville.com, stclairsville.com, stclairsville.com
Treatment: stclairsville.com, stclairsville.com
Supply stress: stclairsville.com, mariettatimes.com, timesleaderonline.com