Water system
Columbiana City
EPA ID OH1500312 · Columbiana County · 6,727 people served · owned by a local government
Columbiana City treats its own water from Groundwater wells (11 wells).
The system's record
- Active wells
- 11
- Serves
- 6,727 people · Columbiana County
- EPA ID
- OH1500312
About this area's water
Did you know
- Columbiana's finished water leaves the plant at pH 9.4, a signature of conventional lime softening; the CCR notes the water is stable to slightly scale-forming.
- The 2016-2018 plant replaced one that had been in service since 1934, and customers started paying an $11 monthly surcharge in 2014 purely to prove to USDA Rural Development that the city could repay the construction…
- The city is prospecting for water like a mining company: it has already run a fracture trace study along its raw water lines and plans an electrical imaging survey over 23.2 acres north of the plant to pinpoint where to…
- Of the 29 analytes tested in the 2025 UCMR 5 rounds, only lithium was detected; the six regulated PFAS compounds were not found.
- The system ran 195 samples and 96 bacterial tests in 2025 from 48 daily sampling points, with no total coliform detections and no violations.
Source: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov
History6
- 1934Original City of Columbiana water treatment plant and raw water well field constructed.
- 1954Major modifications to the water treatment plant and well field.
- 1977Second round of major modifications to the plant and well field; the resulting facility had a peak capacity of 1.0 MGD and nine raw water wells.
- 2006City concluded the existing plant was beyond its useful life and could not be modified or expanded to meet demand or current standards; authorized design of an entirely new plant.
- 2014Water customers began paying an $11.00 monthly surcharge to build a fund demonstrating to USDA Rural Development that the city could repay a construction loan.
- 2016Construction began on an all-new 2.25 MGD water treatment plant just north of the old plant site, with two new raw water wells and about 19,100 linear feet of raw water main; completed over two years…
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Groundwater from 11 wells (grouped in six well fields) in the aquifer assigned to the Allegheny Formation, Pennsylvanian age. The 2016-2018 replacement plant has a peak capacity of 2.25 MGD and treats by conventional lime softening, aeration, coagulation, sedimentation, stabilization, chlorination…
Source: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov
Water pressure
Not published. No pressure figures or pressure-zone map appear in the CCR or on the city site. The 2025 CCR does report two finished-water storage tanks of 1,000,000 and 500,000…
Source: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov
What it costs
No water rate schedule is published on columbianaohio.gov.
Source: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.govcolumbianaohio.govinvoicecloud.com
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) Sample location DS201, 7/30/2025; DS202 was 16.9 ug/L. No violation. | 25.9 ug/L | 80 ug/L MCL | 2025 |
| Haloacetic acids (HAA5) Sample location DS201, 7/30/2025; DS202 was 6.36 ug/L. No violation. | 6.85 ug/L | 60 ug/L MCL | 2025 |
| Fluoride Added as a water treatment additive; daily operational tests average 0.98 mg/L. | 1.125 mg/L | 4.0 mg/L MCL | 2025 |
| Nitrate (as N) Well below the MCL. | 0.333 mg/L | 10 mg/L MCL | 2024 |
| Radium 228 Erosion of natural deposits; reported with a +/- 0.377 pCi/L counting uncertainty. | 0.399 pCi/L | 5 pCi/L MCL | 2023 |
| Selenium | 1.80 ug/L | 50 ug/L MCL | 2023 |
| Lead 90th percentile; 0 of 20 samples exceeded the action level. | 0.0 ppb | 15 ppb action… | 2023 |
| Copper 90th percentile; 0 of 20 samples exceeded the action level. | 0.0133 ppm | 1.3 ppm action… | 2023 |
| Total chlorine Running average 0.9986 ppm, range 0.90 to 1.05 ppm, April 2024 through December 2025. | 1.00 ppm | 4 ppm MRDL | 2024-202… |
| Lithium The only analyte detected of 29 tested in the April and October 2025 UCMR 5 rounds; the six regulated PFAS (PFOA, PFOS… | 11.0 ppb | unregulated… | 2025 |
Source: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0 ppb in 2023 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
3 violations of any kind logged since 2020: 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 & plans7
Recent and current work
- New 2.25 MGD water treatment plant, two new raw water wells and 19,100 ft of raw water main; demolition of… · $20 million · 2016-2018 · completed
Funded with an $8,439,000 USDA Rural Development grant and an $11,224,000 USDA-RD loan, with the balance from Ohio Public Works Commission funds and direct… - Crestview 8-inch raw water line and two new wells · $1.2 million · 2025 · completed
11,408 linear feet (2.16 miles) installed by directional boring, capacity 1.382 MGD; line completed May 2025. The CCR gives about $1.3 million in full funding… - Standby generator for wells #1 and #2 · $77,614 · 2025 · completed
Funded largely by a $50,000 grant; the Water Department paid $27,614.
Source: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov
Planned or needed
- Second well-site standby generator · $42,486 · 2026 · under construction
Delivered May 20, 2026, with the automatic transfer switch due in June; awaiting a concrete pad and wiring. Once installed the plant will have 1.38 MGD of… - Electrical imaging (EI) geophysical survey for new well sites north of the water plant · $21,000 · unknown · planned
About 23.2 acres to be surveyed; the CCR estimates $17,500 to $21,000. A fracture trace study, the first step, is already complete. Overhead and underground… - Additional production wells along the new and existing raw water lines · planned
Goal is to secure long-term supply and to raise raw water capacity from 1.38 MGD to the plant's 2.25 MGD maximum. - Additional standby generators to cover the full 2.25 MGD plant capacity · needed
The Water Department says it is seeking grants and other funding.
Source: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov
Supply stress
The Ohio EPA source water assessment rates the likelihood of the aquifer becoming contaminated as relatively low to moderate under existing conditions, and the city has an active wellhead protection posture plus a backflow and cross-connection program. The binding constraint is quantity, not quality: the plant can treat 2.25 MGD but raw…
Source: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov
Sewers
Sanitary
The City of Columbiana operates its own Waste Water Department for sanitary sewer service (utility billing 330-482-2173 option 1; after-hours emergencies via police dispatch 330-482-9292). No treatment plant description, capacity, receiving stream or rate schedule is published on the city website.
Storm
Not published; no storm sewer or stormwater utility information appears on the city site.
Source: columbianaohio.gov
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
- 44408 · Columbiana64% 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
Columbiana City does not buy water from another system on record; it treats its own source water.
No other system is on record buying water from Columbiana City.
What the records show about Columbiana City
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Columbiana City as owned by a local government. It has 3,382 service connections and serves 6,727 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 330-482-2427.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Columbiana City: aeration, corrosion control, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, iron and manganese removal, fluoridation, lime 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 Columbiana City since 2015.
EPA logs 3 violations of any kind since 2020: 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 2023, the 90th-percentile lead result at Columbiana City 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.
EPA has 3 sampling periods on file for Columbiana City since 2016, the first ending in 2017; 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 Columbiana City sent EPA, 2,654 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 12 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 109 |
| Unknown material | 1,626 |
| Not lead | 907 |
| All lines | 2,654 |
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 Columbiana City in 2025 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 Columbiana City (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 Columbiana City's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 22.2 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 25.9 µg/L and the highest single sample was 29.2 µg/L, from 16 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 13.9 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 13.9 µg/L and the highest single sample was 16.1 µg/L, from 15 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 22.2 µg/L (2019) | 25.9 µg/L | 29.2 µg/L | 16 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 13.9 µg/L | 13.9 µg/L | 16.1 µg/L | 15 |
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 9 samples was 0.33 mg/L (as nitrogen), in 2019, the last year sampled. 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) | 9 | 0.33 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 2 | not detected | 10 µg/L | 0 |
| Combined radium | 2 | 1.8 pCi/L | 5 pCi/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. Detected: barium in 1 of 2 samples, highest 21.3 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine, alachlor, chromium, cadmium, 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 | 1 of 2 | 21.3 µg/L | 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, 1 of 779 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Columbiana City tested positive (0.13%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 96 did. E. coli was never found in the 1 sample 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 Columbiana City adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at Columbiana City.
Measured fluoride: 0.93 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2017 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.93 to 1.04 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 Columbiana City, highest 11 µg/L; detections averaged 11, last sampled in 2025.
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.
How well the service area is mapped
EPA estimated the service area of Columbiana City 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 6,766 residents are inside the boundary, 101% of the 6,727 people Columbiana City 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 — 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
EPA's own record for this system: Enforcement and Compliance History report for OH1500312 (EPA ECHO).
Notable facts: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov
History: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov, columbianaohio.gov
Water quality: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov
Planned work: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov
Water pressure: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov
Capital projects: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov
Rates: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov, columbianaohio.gov, invoicecloud.com
Sewers: columbianaohio.gov
Treatment: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov
Supply stress: 2025wqr.columbianaohio.gov
