Water system
Murray City Village
EPA ID OH3700803 · Hocking County · 449 people served · owned by a local government
Murray City Village buys its water from Burr Oak Regional Water District.
The system's record
- Aquifer
- Hocking River buried valley aquifer (sand and gravel)
- Active wells
- 6
- Serves
- 1,994 people · Athens County
- EPA ID
- OH0501311
About this area's water
Did you know
- Murray City was platted in 1873 and named for landowner John Murray Brown, who built a hotel there in 1875; it was incorporated in 1891.
- At its early-20th-century peak (1920 census: 1,493 residents) it supported a hotel, saloons, churches, and a train depot as a coal-mining boomtown; major mine closures in 1937 triggered a steep decline, to 341 residents…
- Like nearby Trimble, Murray City buys its drinking water wholesale from Burr Oak Regional Water District rather than operating its own treatment plant.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
History6
- 1873Murray City was platted.
- 1875John Murray Brown, the original landowner for whom the town is named, built a hotel in the area.
- 1891Murray City was incorporated as a village.
- 1920Population peaked (1920 census: 1,493) as a coal-mining boomtown supporting a hotel, saloons, churches, and a train depot.
- 1937Major coal-mine closures triggered a steep economic and population decline, to 341 residents by the 2020 census.
- 2019-2022Three violations for an inadequate yearly water quality report (the Consumer Confidence Report) opened (Jan. 2019, Feb. 2020, Aug. 2022) and remain listed as open in federal records; a fourth, opened Oct. 30, 2024, was resolved June 27, 2025.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgdata.epa.gov
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Murray City purchases finished water wholesale from Burr Oak Regional Water District rather than treating its own; Ohio EPA SDWIS lists the village's primary source code as 'GWP' (purchased groundwater). Federal…
Source: data.epa.govdata.epa.gov
Water pressure
Not published.
Source: data.epa.gov
What it costs
We found no published rate schedule online for this ~449-person Hocking County village; it does not appear to maintain an independent municipal website.
Water quality & impurities
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 3.2 ppb in 2025 (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).
EPA compliance record · Burr Oak Regional Water District (treats the water)
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 1.7 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).
Supply stress
Not established from public sources for Murray City's actual drinking-water supply (buried-valley aquifer purchased via Burr Oak Regional Water District). The village sits along Snow Fork, a tributary of Monday Creek -- a Hocking/Perry County watershed also historically affected by acid mine drainage from coal mining -- but this is a…
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Sewers
Sanitary
Not determined from available public sources whether Murray City has a municipal sanitary sewer or relies on septic systems.
Storm
Not determined from available public sources.
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources. Little is published about this system, so details are thin.
Main supplier in 1 ZIP code
Serves
Main water supplier in 1 ZIP code
- 43144 · Murray City92% 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
Murray City Village buys its water from Burr Oak Regional Water District.
No other system is on record buying water from Murray City Village.
What the records show about Murray City Village
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Murray City Village as owned by a local government. It has 213 service connections and serves 449 people.
EPA classes it as a community water system, one that serves the same residents all year.
Its office telephone on EPA's record is 740-762-2362.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
Murray City Village buys water that Burr Oak Regional Water District treats first, so the steps that count are the seller's. EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Burr Oak Regional Water District: aeration, corrosion control, chlorine disinfection, iron and manganese removal, fluoridation, ion-exchange softening, and sand or media filtration.
Murray City Village adds nothing of its own on that table.
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 Murray City Village 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 2025, the 90th-percentile lead result at Murray City Village was 3.2 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
The highest result on file is 3.4 ppb, in the period ending December 2022.
EPA has 8 sampling periods on file for Murray City Village since 2016, the first ending in 2018; 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 Murray City Village sent EPA, 72 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 2 |
| Unknown material | 0 |
| Not lead | 70 |
| All lines | 72 |
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
The water Murray City Village buys is treated by Burr Oak Regional Water District, so the results below are Burr Oak Regional Water District's.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Burr Oak Regional Water District (latest sample June 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 Burr Oak Regional Water District as sampled, most recently June 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 Murray City Village's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 53.9 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 65.7 µg/L and the highest single sample was 76.1 µg/L, from 11 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 15.6 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 16.7 µg/L and the highest single sample was 20.4 µg/L, from 11 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 53.9 µg/L (2019) | 65.7 µg/L | 76.1 µg/L | 11 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 15.6 µg/L | 16.7 µg/L | 20.4 µg/L | 11 |
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
The water Murray City Village buys is treated by Burr Oak Regional Water District, so the results below are Burr Oak Regional Water District's.
Nitrate: the highest of 10 samples was 0.48 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 3 samples (limit 10 µg/L).
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 10 | 0.48 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 of Burr Oak Regional Water District.
Solvents and fuels
The water Murray City Village buys is treated by Burr Oak Regional Water District, so the results below are Burr Oak Regional Water District's.
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 9 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | 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 of Burr Oak Regional Water District.
Farm chemicals and metals
The water Murray City Village buys is treated by Burr Oak Regional Water District, so the results below are Burr Oak Regional Water District's.
EPA's file holds results for 8 of the nine herbicides and metals it checked. Detected: barium in 3 of 3 samples, highest 53.8 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine in 2 samples, alachlor in 2 samples, chromium in 3 samples, cadmium in 3 samples, mercury in 3 samples, selenium in 3 samples, thallium in 3 samples.
| 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 | 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 | 53.8 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 of Burr Oak Regional Water District.
Bacteria in the pipes
From 2012 to 2019, 1 of 98 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Murray City Village tested positive (1.02%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 12 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 Murray City Village buys its water from Burr Oak Regional Water District, a system that adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at Burr Oak Regional Water District, which treats the water Murray City Village buys.
Measured fluoride: 1 mg/L on average leaving the plants of Burr Oak Regional Water District, which supplies Murray City Village, in 2017 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.92 to 1.04 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.
How well the service area is mapped
EPA estimated the service area of Murray City 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 OH3700803 (EPA ECHO).
Notable facts: en.wikipedia.org
History: en.wikipedia.org, data.epa.gov
Water pressure: data.epa.gov
Treatment: data.epa.gov, data.epa.gov
Supply stress: en.wikipedia.org
