Water system
Indian Hill City
EPA ID OH3101112 · Hamilton County · 15,000 people served · owned by a local government
Indian Hill City treats its own water from Little Miami River valley aquifer (wells near Milford).
The system's record
- Aquifer
- Little Miami River valley aquifer
- Water bodies
- Little Miami River
- Active wells
- 9
- Serves
- 15,000 people · Hamilton County
- EPA ID
- OH3101112
About this area's water
Did you know
- Indian Hill's treatment plant sits directly on top of its own wellfield at 7100 Glendale Milford Road, and the nine wells straddle the Hamilton-Clermont county line along the Little Miami River between Milford and Camp…
- The utility reaches far past the village line: Terrace Park, Camp Dennison, roughly half of Madeira, and parts of Montgomery, Milford, Symmes Township and Columbia Township all buy Indian Hill water, each paying a 25%…
- The tower Indian Hill is replacing was built in 1936 and, because of its low overflow elevation, holds only about 70,000 usable gallons - 14% of its 500,000-gallon nameplate - for a system that pumps 1.5 to 5 million…
- The plant produced more than 801 million gallons in 2025, and the village still keeps standby connections to Greater Cincinnati Water Works - which it actually used during the 2024 summer drought.
History5
- 1949Indian Hill Water Works established with construction of the treatment plant on State Route 126 (Glendale Milford Road).
- 2011Ohio EPA endorsed the Indian Hill Water Works Source Water Assessment and Protection Plan, which rated the aquifer highly susceptible to contamination.
- 2024During the summer drought the village used its emergency connections with Greater Cincinnati Water Works to buy supplemental water.
- 2025Village Council approved rebuilding the 1936 water tower at its existing 5355 Miami Road site in November, after an AECOM engineering study confirmed the site was feasible.
- 20265% water rate increase for all customers effective July 1; Council also began readings on a Chapter 51 amendment moving water billing from quarterly to monthly.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Nine groundwater wells along the Little Miami River, in Hamilton and Clermont counties between Milford and Camp Dennison, feed a treatment plant sitting adjacent to the wellfield at 7100 Glendale Milford Road (State Route 126). The groundwater is softened to remove a portion of the hardness…
Source: storage.googleapis.comindianhill.gov
Water pressure
No system-wide psi figure is published. The village does report that its 1936 elevated tower at 5355 Miami Road delivers only about 70,000 gallons of effective operating storage -…
Source: indianhill.gov
What it costs
$9.02 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $45 a month for water.
Village schedule with a 5% increase for all customers effective July 1, 2026. A 5/8-inch meter pays an $87.75 minimum quarterly charge covering 13 ccf (about 9,724 gallons), then…
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 28.9-31.4 ppb. Chlorination by-product. | 31.4 ppb | 80 | 2025 |
| Haloacetic acids (HAA5) Range 7.4-7.7 ppb. | 7.7 ppb | 60 | 2025 |
| Total chlorine Range 0.79-1.01 ppm. | 0.92 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2025 |
| Fluoride Added for dental health; range 0.81-1.08 ppm. | 1.04 ppm | 4 | 2025 |
| Nitrate The village's own CCR flags nitrate as detected at a level of concern - evidence of land-use impact on this shallow… | 1.63 ppm | 10 | 2025 |
| Barium Monitored less than annually; erosion of natural deposits. | 0.029 ppm | 2 | 2024 |
| Lead (90th percentile) Zero of 31 samples above the action level. | 1.65 ppb | 15 (action… | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) Zero of 31 samples above the action level. | 0.918 ppm | 1.3 (action… | 2025 |
| Chloroform Range 14.12-15.75 ppb; the dominant component of the system's trihalomethanes. | 14.94 ppb | no MCL… | 2025 |
| Bromodichloromethane Range 9.08-9.85 ppb; MCLG 0. | 9.47 ppb | no MCL… | 2025 |
Source: storage.googleapis.com
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 1.6 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
Projects & plans4
Recent and current work
- Source water protection measures at the shooting ranges, salt storage and wellfield · completed
Since the 2011 Ohio EPA endorsement the village added best management practices for lead at the Indian Hill Shooting Ranges and for road salt storage at the… - UCMR 5 PFAS monitoring · 2024 · completed
The village completed part of its federal PFAS monitoring obligation through the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 5 program; results were published in…
Source: storage.googleapis.com
Planned or needed
- New elevated water tower at 5355 Miami Road · 2027 · planned
Replaces the 1936 tower, going from about 70,000 gallons of effective operating storage to 1-1.5 million gallons and raising system pressure by roughly 3.03… - PFAS removal treatment · 2029 · planned
The village has submitted a general plan for PFAS removal to Ohio EPA and is awaiting approval; design and construction follow, with the facility to be…
Supply stress
Quality-side stress is documented and specific: the Ohio EPA-endorsed source water assessment rates the aquifer supplying Indian Hill highly susceptible to contamination for three stated reasons - no protective clay, shale or other low-permeability layer over the aquifer; a shallow aquifer only 15-30 feet below the surface; and man-made…
Source: storage.googleapis.com
Sewers
Sanitary
Indian Hill does not treat wastewater. Sewer charges appear on the village utility bill, but the rates are set by the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, most recently effective January 1, 2026; the village's published schedule notes a sewer winter high cap that resets in February, March and April.
Storm
The village's water works, rate and CCR materials describe no stormwater utility, fee or drainage program.
Source: storage.googleapis.com
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Main supplier in 3 ZIP codes
Serves
Main water supplier in 3 ZIP codes
- 45111 · Symmes Township and Camp Dennison100% of residents
- 45174 · Terrace Park87% of residents
- 45243 · Madeira and Cincinnati68% of residents
Also present in 3 more ZIP codes
- 45242 · Blue Ash and Cincinnati4% of residents
- 45249 · Symmes Township and Cincinnati0% of residents
- 45150 · Miami Township and Milford0% 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
Indian Hill 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 Indian Hill City.
What the records show about Indian Hill City
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Indian Hill City as owned by a local government. It has 5,481 service connections and serves 15,000 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 513-831-3885.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Indian Hill City: corrosion control, chlorine disinfection, fluoridation, and ion-exchange softening.
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 Indian Hill City since 2015.
EPA logs no violations of any kind for Indian Hill 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 December 2025, the 90th-percentile lead result at Indian Hill City was 1.6 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
The highest result on file is 2.1 ppb, in the period ending December 2019.
EPA has 9 sampling periods on file for Indian Hill 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 Indian Hill City sent EPA, 5,561 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 1 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 9 |
| Unknown material | 4,873 |
| Not lead | 678 |
| All lines | 5,561 |
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 Indian Hill City in 2023 and measured 29 PFAS.
The highest PFOA or PFOS result, 12.4 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 results were PFOS 12.4 ng/L, PFBA 5.7 ng/L, and PFPeA 4.8 ng/L.
The system reported potential PFAS sources near its supply.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Indian Hill City (latest sample February 2021). The highest result was PFOS at 12.1 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 Indian Hill City as sampled, most recently July 2026.
| Compound | Highest result | Federal limit |
|---|---|---|
| PFOA | not detected | 4 ng/L |
| PFOS | 12.4 ng/L | 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 Indian Hill City's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 31.7 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 42.3 µg/L and the highest single sample was 61.5 µg/L, from 37 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 4.7 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 13.6 µg/L and the highest single sample was 20.2 µg/L, from 37 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 31.7 µg/L (2019) | 42.3 µg/L | 61.5 µg/L | 37 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 4.7 µg/L | 13.6 µg/L | 20.2 µg/L | 37 |
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 7 samples was 1.91 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2017; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 0.96 mg/L. No sample was over the limit of 10 mg/L. Nitrate above 10 is unsafe for infants.
Arsenic was not detected in 3 samples (limit 10 µg/L).
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 7 | 1.91 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 3 | 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 3 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | 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 3 of 3 samples, highest 33 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine, alachlor, chromium, cadmium, mercury, selenium, and thallium, in 3 samples each.
| 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 | 3 | 3 of 3 | 33 µg/L | 0 |
| Mercury | Metal | 2 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Selenium | Metal | 50 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Thallium | Metal | 2 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | 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, 2 of 1,524 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Indian Hill City tested positive (0.13%); in 2019, the last year on file, 1 of 192 did. E. coli was never found in the 2 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 Indian Hill City adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at Indian Hill City.
Measured fluoride: 0.98 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2018 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.84 to 0.98 mg/L across 3 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 not detected in 2 UCMR 5 samples at Indian Hill City, last sampled in 2023 (the method reports from 9 µg/L).
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
The service area drawn on the map for Indian Hill City comes from the utility's own map.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 14,214 residents are inside the boundary, 95% of the 15,000 people Indian Hill 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 — 6 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 OH3101112 (EPA ECHO).
Indian Hill City's own pages: indianhill.gov, cms6.revize.com
Notable facts: storage.googleapis.com, indianhill.gov, indianhill.gov, storage.googleapis.com
History: indianhill.gov, storage.googleapis.com, indianhill.gov, indianhill.gov
Water quality: storage.googleapis.com
Planned work: indianhill.gov, storage.googleapis.com
Water pressure: indianhill.gov
Capital projects: storage.googleapis.com
Rates: storage.googleapis.com, indianhill.gov
Sewers: storage.googleapis.com
Treatment: storage.googleapis.com, indianhill.gov
Supply stress: storage.googleapis.com
