Water system
Lancaster City
EPA ID OH2301012 · Fairfield County · 40,400 people served · owned by a local government
Lancaster City treats its own water from Hocking River Valley Aquifer (wells).
The system's record
- Aquifer
- Hocking River Valley Aquifer (glacial sand and gravel)
- Active wells
- 16
- Serves
- 40,400 people · Fairfield County
- EPA ID
- OH2301012
About this area's water
Did you know
- Lancaster draws all of its drinking water from 16 wells in glacial sand and gravel of the Hocking River Valley Aquifer rather than from any river or lake intake.
- The city replaced its century-old Miller Park plant with an $85 million reverse-osmosis facility whose firm capacity, 9.3 MGD, is more than twice the city's sewer plant flow.
- Every Lancaster water bill carries a separate wellhead protection charge, as little as 59 cents a month, earmarked for guarding the aquifer the city sits on.
- Only 8% of Lancaster's sewers are combined, but that fraction still produces nine overflow points the city has until December 2033 to bring under control.
History5
- 1877-1882The city builds a water system for fire protection in 1877, adds a standpipe in 1879 and expands it to domestic service in 1882.
- 1925The original Miller Park water plant is built; it will serve for roughly a century before replacement.
- 1932The North (Miller Park) wellfield becomes operational, drawing on the Hocking River Valley Aquifer.
- 1939The Lancaster (Lawrence Street) Water Pollution Control Facility is constructed on the Hocking River.
- 2014Ohio EPA approves the city's Phase II Long Term Control Plan for its nine remaining combined sewer overflows.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
All groundwater: 12 wells at Miller Park (North) and 4 at the South wellfield draw the sand-and-gravel Hocking River Valley Aquifer. The new North plant uses reverse osmosis (9.3 MGD firm), gravity filtration, degasification and blending into a 1.2 MG clearwell.
Water pressure
Not published.
What it costs
$8.00 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $45 a month for water.
Rate Sheet 99, eff. March 2026: residential $5.98/ccf plus a $13.77 monthly 3/4-inch meter charge and $0.88 wellhead fee; outside-corporate $8.21/ccf.
Water quality & impurities
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0.8 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
Projects & plans4
Recent and current work
- Miller Park North Water Treatment Plant replacement · $85 million · completed
Kokosing-built RO plant, 9.3 MGD firm capacity, 1.2 MG clearwell, three new wells and four wellhouses; completion year not published. - Lancaster (Lawrence Street) WPCF upgrade · 2023 · under construction
Ohio EPA's 2023 NPDES fact sheet says the 1939 plant is currently being upgraded; scope and cost not published. - Upper Hocking WPCF expansion
Ohio EPA's 2023 permit paperwork lists Upper Hocking at 4 MGD average design flow; expansion timeline and cost not published.
Planned or needed
- Combined sewer overflow Long Term Control Plan (Phase II) · 2033 · under construction
Nine remaining CSOs to be cut to zero-to-four events in a typical year, with a final completion date of December 2033.
Supply stress
The city rates its own source water as highly susceptible to contamination because the aquifer is shallow sand and gravel; it has run a source water protection plan since 1996. No quantity stress or drought vulnerability is documented, and the new plant was sized partly for industrial growth.
Sewers
Sanitary
Lancaster's Division of Water Pollution Control runs two Hocking River plants: the Lancaster (Lawrence Street) WPCF, built 1939 and being upgraded, at 10 MGD average design flow, 12 MGD secondary and 18 MGD peak hydraulic capacity serving about 30,000; and the Upper Hocking WPCF at 4 MGD.
Storm
The collection system is 92% separate and 8% combined with nine known CSOs under an Ohio EPA-approved control plan running to December 2033. A stormwater fee is billed at $9.25 per ERU per month.
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
- 43130 · Lancaster58% 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
Lancaster 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 Lancaster City.
What the records show about Lancaster City
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Lancaster City as owned by a local government. It has 15,783 service connections and serves 40,400 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 740-687-6631.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Lancaster City: aeration, corrosion control, cartridge filtration, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, iron and manganese removal, ion-exchange softening, reverse osmosis, 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 Lancaster City since 2015.
EPA logs no violations of any kind for Lancaster City since 2020.
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 2025, the 90th-percentile lead result at Lancaster City was 0.8 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
The highest result on file is 1.9 ppb, in the period ending December 2021.
EPA has 9 sampling periods on file for Lancaster 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 Lancaster City sent EPA, 15,856 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 2,349 |
| Unknown material | 3,450 |
| Not lead | 10,057 |
| All lines | 15,856 |
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 7 samples of the water entering the pipes of Lancaster City in 2023 and measured 29 PFAS. No PFAS was detected, PFOA and PFOS (federal limit 4 ng/L each) among them.
The system reported PFAS treatment: membrane filtration and reverse osmosis or nanofiltration.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 2 plants of Lancaster City (latest sample August 2020). Not one of the six PFAS tested (PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS) was detected.
Ohio EPA's current sampling status map lists 3 plants of Lancaster City as sampled, most recently May 2026.
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 Lancaster City's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 26 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 41.9 µg/L and the highest single sample was 47.2 µg/L, from 39 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 6 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 11.5 µg/L and the highest single sample was 12.8 µg/L, from 39 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 26 µg/L (2019) | 41.9 µg/L | 47.2 µg/L | 39 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 6 µg/L | 11.5 µg/L | 12.8 µg/L | 39 |
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 16 samples was 0.28 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2012; in 2019, the last year sampled, nitrate was not detected. No sample was over the limit of 10 mg/L. Nitrate above 10 is unsafe for infants.
Arsenic: the highest of 4 samples was 6.1 µg/L (limit 10); detections averaged 6.1; none over the limit.
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 16 | 0.28 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 4 | 6.1 µg/L | 10 µg/L | 0 |
| Combined radium | 1 | not detected | 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.
EPA's file lumps the entry-point samples of all 2 plants of Lancaster City together, so a result over a limit may come from a plant that serves a different part of town.
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 4 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | 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 4 of 4 samples, highest 119 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine, alachlor, chromium, cadmium, mercury, selenium, and thallium, in 4 samples each.
| Substance | Kind | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atrazine | Farm chemical | 3 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Alachlor | Farm chemical | 2 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Chromium | Metal | 100 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Cadmium | Metal | 5 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 4 | 4 of 4 | 119 µg/L | 0 |
| Mercury | Metal | 2 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Selenium | Metal | 50 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Thallium | Metal | 2 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
Non-detects count as zero in the highest-result column.
EPA's file lumps the entry-point samples of all 2 plants of Lancaster City together, so a result over a limit may come from a plant that serves a different part of town.
Source: EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019, finished water.
Bacteria in the pipes
From 2012 to 2019, 3 of 3,659 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Lancaster City tested positive (0.08%); in 2019, the last year on file, 1 of 486 did. E. coli was never found in the 3 samples 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 Lancaster City has fluoride from natural sources, but at a level below what is recommended for preventing tooth decay, and does not adjust it. The level it reports is 0.26 mg/L.
EPA's treatment table lists no fluoridation step at Lancaster City.
Measured fluoride: 0.24 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2017 (too little to protect teeth), with 1 of that year's samples below the 0.2 mg/L reporting limit and left out of the average; samples ran from 0.24 to 0.28 mg/L across 4 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 4 UCMR 5 samples at Lancaster City, highest 12.2 µg/L; detections averaged 12, last sampled in 2023.
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.
Water and sewer bills
Ohio EPA's 2023 rate survey puts the water bill at Lancaster City for a household using 5,000 gallons a month at $609 a year, about $51 a month.
The sewer bill in the same survey is $821 a year at 5,000 gallons a month.
| Use | Water, per year | Sewer, per year |
|---|---|---|
| 2,500 gallons a month | $371 | $535 |
| 5,000 gallons a month | $609 | $821 |
| 8,000 gallons a month | $895 | $1,165 |
The survey lists it as “Lancaster”. 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
The service area drawn on the map for Lancaster City comes from the utility's own map.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 35,767 residents are inside the boundary, 89% of the 40,400 people Lancaster 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 OH2301012 (EPA ECHO).
Lancaster City's own pages: lancasterohioutilities.org, lancasterohio.gov, lancasterohio.gov
