Water system
Thurston Village
EPA ID OH2302903 · Fairfield County · 604 people served · owned by a local government
Thurston Village treats its own water from Groundwater wells (2 wells).
The system's record
The Ohio Department of Health's fluoridation report (CDC My Water's Fluoride) lists Thurston Village as buying its water from Baltimore Village; EPA's inventory shows its own sources as primary with Baltimore Village as an emergency connection. The two records may reflect a blend or a recent switch.
- Active wells
- 2
- Serves
- 604 people · Fairfield County
- EPA ID
- OH2302903
About this area's water
Did you know
- Thurston was originally platted as 'Bush City' in 1881 before being renamed Thurston when its post office opened.
- At its early-1900s peak, Thurston was a terminal for four divisions of the New York Central Railroad and was reportedly the only place in southeast Ohio where a train could turn a full 360 degrees; the last passenger…
- A 1976 village historical account noted officials were still hoping to break ground on Thurston's first municipal water system at that late date, meaning today's piped water system is a relatively recent addition.
- Thurston's population has been remarkably stable for a century: 394 in 1920, 603-604 in the 2020 census.
- A 1905 shirt-waist factory fire in the small village was reportedly visible for miles.
Source: thurstonohio.comen.wikipedia.org
History5
- 1881The community, originally platted as 'Bush City,' was renamed Thurston and a post office opened.
- 1880s-1950Thurston grew into a major railroad hub, serving as a terminal for four divisions of the New York Central Railroad; by 1920 fourteen passenger trains stopped daily, and it was reportedly the only…
- 1905A shirt-waist factory fire, visible for miles, destroyed a major local employer.
- 1953A tornado destroyed a brick building (originally a two-room schoolhouse) east of the railroad tracks.
- 1976A village historical account describes officials still hoping to break ground on Thurston's first municipal water system, indicating the current system postdates the mid-1970s.
Source: thurstonohio.comen.wikipedia.org
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Thurston draws groundwater from wells located east of State Route 37, pumped to a treatment plant at 8445 High Street before distribution, per its 2025 Consumer Confidence Report and 2021 rate ordinance. The system chlorinates (2025 average residual 0.96 ppm, within the 4 ppm regulatory limit) and…
Source: thurstonohio.comthurstonohio.com
Water pressure
Not published in the CCR, rate ordinance, or village website reviewed.
What it costs
$15.91 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $42 a month for water.
Per Village of Thurston Ordinance 2021-18 (passed Sept. 8, 2021): $15.91 per 1,000 gallons for usage above a 1,500-gallon monthly minimum; minimum charge $26.53/month for a…
Source: thurstonohio.com
Water quality & impurities9
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenic No violation. The CCR's summary table also lists an anomalous '3,252' figure inconsistent with its own stated detection… | 1.98-4.99… ppb | 10 ppb (MCL) | 2025 |
| Gross Alpha No violation, but close to the MCL. | 14.8 (range… pCi/L | 15 pCi/L (MCL) | 2023 |
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Disinfection byproduct; no violation. | 6.10 (range… ppb | 80 ppb (MCL) | 2025 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Disinfection byproduct; no violation. | 13.4 (range… ppb | 60 ppb (MCL) | 2025 |
| Radium-228 No violation. | 0.509 (range… pCi/L | 5 pCi/L (MCL) | 2023 |
| Lead 0 of 20 samples exceeded the action level. | 1.60 (90th… ppb | 15 ppb (action… | 2024 |
| Copper 0 of 20 samples exceeded the action level. | 0.741 (90th… ppm | 1.3 ppm (action… | 2025 |
| Nitrate No violation. | <0.10 ppm | 10 ppm (MCL) | 2025 |
| Total Coliform No violation, but Thurston separately failed to monitor for coliform as required in January 2025; a Feb 22, 2025 sample… | 0 positive… | 0 (MCL) | 2025 |
Source: thurstonohio.com
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 1.5 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
12 violations of any kind logged since 2020: 7 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 5 for a report, record or notice that was missing, late or incomplete (the yearly water quality report, a public notice, lead line records).
Supply stress
Per Thurston's 2025 Consumer Confidence Report, an Ohio EPA source-water assessment rates the aquifer supplying Thurston's wells as having 'medium susceptibility to contamination' due to the depth to water and the material between the ground surface and the aquifer. Thurston participates in the Fairfield County Regional Wellhead…
Source: thurstonohio.com
Sewers
Sanitary
Thurston operates a municipal sanitary sewer system: per its 2021 water/sewer ordinance, sewer account deposit and refund policies are controlled by the Walnut Creek Sewer District, and a separate sewer rate ordinance (2018-11-01) sets sewer charges.
Source: thurstonohio.comthurstonohio.com
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
- 43157 · Thurston99% 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
Thurston Village does not buy water from another system on record; it treats its own source water.
No other system is on record buying water from Thurston Village.
What the records show about Thurston Village
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Thurston Village as owned by a local government. It has 290 service connections and serves 604 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. Its office telephone on EPA's record is 740-862-6003.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Thurston Village: aeration, chlorine disinfection, ion-exchange 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 Thurston Village since 2015.
EPA logs 12 violations of any kind since 2020: 7 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 5 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 June 2025, the 90th-percentile lead result at Thurston Village was 1.5 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
The highest result on file is 3.2 ppb, in the period ending December 2018.
EPA has 7 sampling periods on file for Thurston Village 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 Thurston Village sent EPA, 296 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 139 |
| Not lead | 157 |
| All lines | 296 |
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
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Thurston Village (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 1 plant of Thurston Village as sampled, most recently August 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 Thurston Village's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 14.5 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 68.1 µg/L and the highest single sample was 68.1 µg/L, from 15 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 4.8 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 12.8 µg/L and the highest single sample was 12.8 µg/L, from 17 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 14.5 µg/L (2019) | 68.1 µg/L | 68.1 µg/L | 15 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 4.8 µg/L | 12.8 µg/L | 12.8 µg/L | 17 |
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 6 samples was 0.12 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2017; 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 26 samples was 14.1 µg/L (limit 10); detections averaged 6.2; 2 over the limit.
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 6 | 0.12 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 26 | 14.1 µg/L | 10 µg/L | 2 |
| Combined radium | 1 | 1.4 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 10 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 10 | 0 of 10 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 10 | 0 of 10 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 10 | 0 of 10 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 10 | 0 of 10 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 10 | 0 of 10 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 10 | 0 of 10 | 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 2 of 2 samples, highest 74.4 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 | 2 of 2 | 74.4 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, 0 of 97 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Thurston Village tested positive (0%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 12 did. E. coli was never found in the 16 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 Thurston Village buys its water from Baltimore Village, a system that has fluoride from natural sources at a level higher than what is needed to prevent tooth decay. The level it reports is 1.71 mg/L.
EPA's treatment table lists no fluoridation step at Thurston Village.
Measured fluoride: none was detected in 2 samples at the plant's entry points 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.
How well the service area is mapped
EPA estimated the service area of Thurston Village with a computer model rather than drawing it from the utility's map, so its edges are approximate.
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 OH2302903 (EPA ECHO).
Notable facts: thurstonohio.com, en.wikipedia.org
History: thurstonohio.com, en.wikipedia.org
Water quality: thurstonohio.com
Rates: thurstonohio.com
Sewers: thurstonohio.com, thurstonohio.com
Treatment: thurstonohio.com, thurstonohio.com
Supply stress: thurstonohio.com