Clermont Public Water System

• Harsha Lake is first a flood-control reservoir for the Ohio River and Cincinnati - the Corps credited it with preventing over $87 million in flood damage by 2010 - and a drinking water source second.
• Congress funded the East Fork dam in 1938 after the 1937 Ohio River flood, but construction did not begin until 1970 and the lake was not fully operational until 1978.
• One county system blends three unlike sources: a flood-control reservoir plus two separate sand-and-gravel aquifers, one under the Little Miami valley and one under the Ohio River valley.
• Clermont keeps seven emergency interconnections with neighbors - Greater Cincinnati Water Works, Tate Monroe Water Association and Western Water - and used none of them in 2024.

• 1938After the 1937 Ohio River flood, a congressional flood control act funded projects including the East Fork dam; construction waited decades.
• 1955Clermont County began producing drinking water, the start of what is now a three-plant county system on one distribution network.
• 1978East Fork Lake, later William H. Harsha Lake, became fully operational after construction began in 1970.
• 2021Clermont County Public Health issued a July 9 water quality advisory at Harsha Lake after testing found high harmful-algal-bloom toxins.
• 2024On October 9, 2024 the Batavia Village public water system (PWS 1300011) was folded into the Clermont County Public Water System.

How it is treated

Three plants feed one common distribution system: MGS near Miamiville treats Little Miami River valley wells, PUB near New Palestine treats Ohio River valley wells, and the Bob McEwen plant in Batavia Township treats Harsha Lake surface water. Process steps are not published.

Water pressure

Not published in sources reviewed for this pass.

$4.90 per 1,000 gallons

Effective May 1, 2025: $4.90/1,000 gal; a 3/4-inch residential meter pays a $24.50 bi-monthly minimum covering 5,000 gal, then $5.39-$6.37 in higher tiers.

EPA compliance record

Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 2.1 ppb in 2023 (action level 15 ppb).

EPA health-based violations since 2015:

• 2018Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) · exceeded a maximum contaminant level · measured 0.081 MG/L (limit 0.08 MG/L) · returned to compliance

2 violations of any kind logged since 2020, 2 of them paperwork (monitoring, reporting, public notice or consumer report).

Recent and current work

• Bob McEwen WTP clearwell drain piping · 2026 · planned
  Listed for 2026 construction in the county's five-year water CIP approved May 8, 2026; cost is in a scanned summary.
• PUB well field rehabilitation · 2026 · planned
  2026 construction year in the five-year water CIP; rehabilitates the Ohio River valley aquifer wells.
• Middle East Fork WWTP improvements · 2026 · planned
  2026 construction year in the county's five-year wastewater CIP.
• Arrowhead Wastewater Treatment Plant elimination · 2026 · planned
  2026 wastewater CIP item consolidating flow away from a small package plant.
• White Oak lift station relocation and upgrade · 2026 · planned
  2026 wastewater CIP item, paired with a White Oak Road sewer replacement.

Planned or needed

• Bob McEwen WTP polymer system replacement · 2027 · planned
  2027 construction year in the five-year water CIP; polymer feed serves coagulation at the Harsha Lake plant.
• PUB well field tower replacement, wells 1-5 · 2027 · planned
  2027 water CIP item replacing well towers at the Ohio River valley wellfield.
• PUB WTP standby generators · 2027 · planned
  2027 water CIP item adding backup power at the Pierce-Union-Batavia plant.
• Lower East Fork WWTP improvements · 2027 · planned
  2027 wastewater CIP item at one of the county's two East Fork treatment plants.
• O'Bannon trunk sewer improvements, Phase I · 2027 · planned
  2027 wastewater CIP item upgrading a major trunk sewer in the northwest county.

Summer harmful algal blooms on Harsha Lake force recreational advisories, one on July 9, 2021, and constant raw-water monitoring. PFOS at the MGS plant hit 10.9 ppt in December 2025, above the 4 ppt MCL, and Ohio EPA rates all three sources highly susceptible to contamination.

Sanitary

Clermont County Water Resources runs the sanitary system and several plants, including the Middle East Fork and Lower East Fork WWTPs; the Arrowhead WWTP is slated for elimination in 2026. Sewer is billed on metered water at $5.07/1,000 gal with a $25.35 bi-monthly minimum.

Storm

No county stormwater utility or fee appears in Water Resources' navigation. The county does run a Foundation Drain Disconnect Program to keep stormwater out of sanitary sewers; rural ZIPs rely on septic.

Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.