Bellevue City

• Bellevue does not sit on a river or a lake - it built its own supply: city reservoirs holding roughly a billion gallons, filled by runoff from Frink Run and Berry Creek. (The city's plant page counts five reservoirs…
• Berry Creek runs entirely through karst limestone, so part of what Bellevue treats as surface water actually surfaced from underground first.
• The filtration plant in use today opened in 1937 and has been rebuilt piecemeal at least eight times since - 1955, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1985, 2002 and 2010.
• Bellevue buys at least 200,000 gallons a day of Lake Erie water from Erie County, and shuts the valve the moment the county issues a boil alert.
• Bellevue bills water by the cubic foot rather than the thousand gallons: $0.068136 per cubic foot, which works out to about $9.11 per 1,000 gallons.

Source: bellevueohio.govbellevueohio.govbellevueohio.gov

• 1872Bellevue's municipal water system began, drawing untreated deep well water.
• 1937The present surface-water filtration plant was put into operation, treating impounded Frink Run and Berry Creek runoff.
• 1955-2010The 1937 plant was upgraded repeatedly - the city lists work in 1955, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1985, 2002 and 2010.
• 1969Bellevue's Water Pollution Control (wastewater) plant was constructed.
• 1988First expansion of the wastewater treatment plant.
• 1994Second expansion of the wastewater treatment plant; design flow now 2.0 MGD.

Source: bellevueohio.govbellevueohio.govbellevueohio.gov

How it is treated

Surface water impounded from city reservoirs fed by Frink Run and Berry Creek is treated at a plant with 3.0 MGD capacity. The 2025 CCR describes the process as lime softening, coagulation, sedimentation, stabilization, fluoridation, sand filtration and disinfection. The plant page lists the…

Source: bellevueohio.govbellevueohio.gov

Water pressure

About 65 psi average static pressure, across a distribution system of more than 47 miles of 4-inch to 12-inch main with 432 fire hydrants and three elevated tanks holding 1.3…

Source: bellevueohio.govbellevueohio.gov

$9.11 per 1,000 gallons

Typical household bill about $57 a month for water.

Ordinance 20-20 schedule in effect for 2025. Water is billed per cubic foot, not per 1,000 gallons: $0.068136 per cf above a 200 cf minimum, with a minimum water charge of $20.44…

Source: bellevueohio.govbellevueohio.gov

Source: bellevueohio.gov

EPA compliance record

Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).

EPA health-based violations since 2015:

• 2018Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) · exceeded a maximum contaminant level · measured 0.087 MG/L (limit 0.08 MG/L) · returned to compliance
• 2017Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) · exceeded a maximum contaminant level · measured 0.087 MG/L (limit 0.08 MG/L) · returned to compliance

EPA's count of 3 includes 1 repeat quarterly violation of the problems listed.

4 violations of any kind logged since 2020, 4 of them paperwork (monitoring, reporting, public notice or consumer report).

Recent and current work

• Water treatment plant modernization program · 2010 · completed
  The 1937 plant has been upgraded repeatedly - the city lists work in 1955, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1985, 2002 and 2010. No costs published.
• Water Pollution Control Facility expansions · 1994 · completed
  Wastewater plant built 1969, expanded 1988 and 1994; design flow now 2.0 MGD. No costs published.
• Water main replacement projects · 2025 · completed
  The 2025 CCR reports water main replacement projects were completed. No scope or cost published.

Source: bellevueohio.govbellevueohio.govbellevueohio.gov

Planned or needed

• Water meter change-out program · 2025 · under construction
  The 2025 CCR states the meter change-out program 'is being completed.' No cost published.
• Lead service line inventory completion · 2025 · under construction
  The city maintains an online service line inventory map and is still collecting resident service-line forms; USEPA requires 100% known service line materials.…

Source: bellevueohio.gov

Bellevue's own supply is small and weather-exposed: it impounds runoff from Frink Run and Berry Creek - Berry Creek lies entirely within a karst limestone region, so part of its flow originates as groundwater - into up-ground reservoirs behind a 3.0 MGD plant. The city buys 200,000 gallons or more a day of Lake Erie water from Erie…

Source: bellevueohio.govbellevueohio.gov

Sanitary

The City of Bellevue operates its own Water Pollution Control Facility, built in 1969 and expanded in 1988 and 1994: design flow 2.0 MGD, average daily flow 1.1 MGD, 24-hour peak flow 5.6 MGD. Treatment is bar screening, grit removal, primary clarification, activated sludge, nitrification towers, final clarification and UV disinfection…

Storm

No stormwater utility fee, combined sewer overflow program or separate storm sewer detail was found on the city's public pages.

Source: bellevueohio.govbellevueohio.gov

Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.