Water system
Gallia Co. Rural Water Association
EPA ID OH2700012 · Gallia County · 20,995 people served
Gallia Co. Rural Water Association treats its own water from Ohio River Valley Aquifer (10 wells, Gallipolis/Addison Twp.).
The system's record
- Aquifer
- Ohio River Valley Aquifer
- Active wells
- 10
- Serves
- 20,995 people · Gallia County
- EPA ID
- OH2700012
About this area's water
Did you know
- One rural water association covers roughly 500 square miles and 19 townships across five counties -- Gallia, Jackson, Meigs, Lawrence and Vinton -- with about 700 miles of pipe and 10,200 taps serving an estimated…
- Its 37 tanks hold more than 7.7 million gallons between them -- over four days of the system's average daily production of 1.873 million gallons.
- During the 2023 East Palestine derailment scare the utility had to publicly reassure customers that its 10 wells draw from a buried aquifer, not the Ohio River flowing past Gallipolis.
- The 2025 water quality report shows PFOA at 7.52 ng/L, nearly double the 4.0 ng/L federal limit that takes effect in 2031 -- though under current rules the system recorded no violation or action-level exceedance for the…
- The 'high susceptibility' rating on Well Field #1 traces to a real event: volatile organic chemicals were found in the raw water there in the early 1990s.
History5
- early 1990sOhio EPA's source water assessment records that ground water contamination by volatile organic chemicals was detected in the raw water at Gallia Rural Water's #1 Well Field -- the basis for that…
- February…After the East Palestine train derailment, the Gallia County Health Department published statements from local water providers; GCRWA told concerned customers its 10 wells draw groundwater from the…
- May 2, 2025GCRWA completed its remaining PFAS sampling event under the 2024 federal PFAS drinking water rule, analyzing for the six regulated PFAS. All results were non-detect except PFOA at 7.52 ng/L.
- May 29, 2025The Ohio Water Development Authority board approved a Drinking Water Assistance Loan Fund agreement with the Gallia County Rural Water Association for $4,454,012.80.
- 2025GCRWA participated in the fifth round of the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5), which detected PFOA (7.52 ng/L, range 4-7.52) and lithium (9.65 ug/L). The association held an…
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Groundwater from 10 wells in Gallipolis and Addison Townships, drawing on the Ohio River Valley Aquifer, is treated at an Ohio EPA Class II water treatment plant that runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The CCR does not itemize the process train, but chlorine and fluoride are both…
Source: galliah2o.comgalliah2o.com
Water pressure
Not published. No CCR, engineering report or pressure-zone map giving a psi figure was found.
What it costs
$9.70 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $46 a month for water.
Declining-block schedule published by the association. On a 5/8-inch meter the minimum bill is $27.00, covering the first 2,000 gallons ($13.50 per 1,000). Above that: $9.70 per…
Source: galliah2o.comdam.assets.ohio.gov
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| PFOA Sampled 5/2/2025; UCMR 5 range 4-7.52 ng/L. Nearly double the 4.0 ng/L MCL set by the 2024 federal PFAS rule, but that… | 7.52 ng/L | 4 (MCL… | 2025 |
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 6.2-22.7 ppb; byproduct of chlorine disinfection. | 22.7 ppb | 80 | 2025 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Range ND-4.8 ppb; byproduct of chlorine disinfection. | 4.8 ppb | 60 | 2025 |
| Fluoride Range 0.80-1.28 ppm; water additive plus natural erosion. | 1.01 ppm | 4 | 2025 |
| Chlorine Range 0.24-2.14 ppm; additive used to control microbes. | 1.03 ppm | 4 | 2025 |
| Nitrate Well below the MCL. | 0.492 ppm | 10 | 2025 |
| Lead (90th percentile) 0 of 30 samples over the action level; the CCR states there was no detectable lead in the system this testing period. | 1.8 ppb | 15 (AL) | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) 0 of 30 samples over the action level. | 0.424 ppm | 1.3 (AL) | 2025 |
| Barium Discharge of drilling wastes and from metal refineries. | 0.061 ppm | 2 | 2024 |
| Sodium Informational for people on sodium-restricted diets; not a violation. | 24.2 ppm | 20 (advisory… | 2024 |
Source: galliah2o.com
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 1.8 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
1 violation of any kind logged since 2020: 1 for a report, record or notice that was missing, late or incomplete (the yearly water quality report, a public notice, lead line records).
Projects & plans1
Planned or needed
- OWDA Drinking Water Assistance Loan Fund improvements · $4.5 million · 2025 · planned
Loan agreement approved by OWDA board resolution dated 05-29-2025. The resolution index names only the borrower and amount; the project scope is not itemized…
Source: owda.org
Supply stress
Ohio EPA rates the aquifer supplying Well Field #1 as HIGH susceptibility to contamination, on the strength of a documented ground water contamination by volatile organic chemicals in the raw water in the early 1990s. Well Field #2 is rated MODERATE, because of the aquifer's sensitivity and several potential contaminant sources inside…
Source: galliah2o.comgalliacohealth.gov
Sewers
Sanitary
Gallia County Rural Water Association is a drinking-water-only association; it operates no sanitary sewer system, and the Ohio EPA 2022 Sewer and Water Rate Survey lists no sewer usage or sewer bill for it. Sanitary service in its five-county area is provided, where it exists at all, by separate municipal systems such as the City of…
Storm
We found no stormwater utility or drainage program associated with GCRWA.
Source: galliah2o.comdam.assets.ohio.gov
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Present in 2 ZIP codes
Serves
No ZIP code has Gallia Co. Rural Water Association on record as its main water supplier.
Also present in 2 more ZIP codes
- 45614 · Springfield Township and Bidwell5% of residents
- 45631 · Green Township and Gallipolis1% 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
Gallia Co. Rural Water Association does not buy water from another system on record; it treats its own source water.
1 system on record buys water from Gallia Co. Rural Water Association: Rio Grande.
What the records show about Gallia Co. Rural Water Association
Who runs it
EPA's record says Gallia Co. Rural Water Association has 9,632 service connections and serves 20,995 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 740-446-9221.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Gallia Co. Rural Water Association: corrosion control, chlorine disinfection, iron and manganese removal, and fluoridation.
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 Gallia Co. Rural Water Association since 2015.
EPA logs 1 violation of any kind since 2020: 1 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 2025, the 90th-percentile lead result at Gallia Co. Rural Water Association was 1.8 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
The highest result on file is 3.1 ppb, in the period ending December 2021.
EPA has 9 sampling periods on file for Gallia Co. Rural Water Association 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 Gallia Co. Rural Water Association sent EPA, 10,700 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 0 |
| Not lead | 10,700 |
| All lines | 10,700 |
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 3 samples of the water entering the pipes of Gallia Co. Rural Water Association in 2024 to 2025 and measured 29 PFAS.
The highest PFOA or PFOS result, 7.5 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 7.5 ng/L.
The system reported potential PFAS sources near its supply.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Gallia Co. Rural Water Association (latest sample April 2021). The highest result was PFOA at 10.6 ppt (ppt is the same unit as ng/L), against Ohio's action level of 70 ppt. Those action levels are the ones Ohio EPA used for the survey; the 2024 federal limit for PFOA and PFOS is 4 ng/L.
Ohio EPA's current sampling status map lists 1 plant of Gallia Co. Rural Water Association as sampled, most recently March 2026.
| Compound | Highest result | Federal limit |
|---|---|---|
| PFOA | 7.5 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 Gallia Co. Rural Water Association's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 13.7 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 28.8 µg/L and the highest single sample was 28.8 µg/L, from 41 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 0 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 0 µg/L and the highest single sample was 0 µg/L, from 41 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 13.7 µg/L (2019) | 28.8 µg/L | 28.8 µg/L | 41 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 0 µg/L | 0 µg/L | 0 µg/L | 41 |
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 8 samples was 0.52 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2013; 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 was not detected in 2 samples (limit 10 µg/L).
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 8 | 0.52 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 2 | 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 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 2 of 2 samples, highest 65.7 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine in 3 samples, alachlor in 3 samples, chromium in 3 samples, cadmium in 3 samples, mercury in 2 samples, selenium in 2 samples, thallium in 2 samples.
| Substance | Kind | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atrazine | Farm chemical | 3 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Alachlor | Farm chemical | 2 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Chromium | Metal | 100 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Cadmium | Metal | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 2 | 2 of 2 | 65.7 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 2,186 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Gallia Co. Rural Water Association tested positive (0%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 240 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 Gallia Co. Rural Water Association adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at Gallia Co. Rural Water Association.
Measured fluoride: 1.03 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2017 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 1.03 to 1.08 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 1 of 2 UCMR 5 samples at Gallia Co. Rural Water Association, highest 9.7 µg/L, 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 Gallia Co. Rural Water Association 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 340 residents are inside the boundary, 2% of the 20,995 people Gallia Co. Rural Water Association reports serving. With so much of its territory outside the polygon, part of the system shows on the map as private wells.
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 — 2 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 OH2700012 (EPA ECHO).
Gallia Co. Rural Water Association's own pages: galliacohealth.gov, galliah2o.com
Notable facts: galliah2o.com, galliah2o.com, galliah2o.com, galliacohealth.gov
History: galliah2o.com, galliacohealth.gov, owda.org
Water quality: galliah2o.com
Planned work: owda.org
Rates: galliah2o.com, dam.assets.ohio.gov
Sewers: galliah2o.com, dam.assets.ohio.gov
Treatment: galliah2o.com, galliah2o.com
Supply stress: galliah2o.com, galliacohealth.gov
