Water system
Lake County East Water Subdistrict
EPA ID OH4302911 · Lake County · 40,656 people served · owned by a local government
Lake County East Water Subdistrict treats its own water from Lake Erie.
The system's record
- Water bodies
- Lake Erie
- Raw intakes
- Lake Co Lake Erie Int
- Serves
- 40,656 people · Lake County
- EPA ID
- OH4302911
About this area's water
Did you know
- Raw water is drawn through a 48-inch pipe extending about 4,000 feet out into Lake Erie and pumped to the plant at 4,200 gallons per minute.
- The plant produces about 3 million gallons a day for roughly 36,000 people in Perry Village, North Perry, Perry and Madison townships and part of Painesville Township.
- Lake County's water operation holds the Partnership for Safe Water's Director's Award of Recognition, which the county says puts it in the top 3% of Ohio systems.
- The bank in front of the plant is retreating about 10 feet a year, and two mains capable of carrying 9 million gallons a day now sit 50 feet from the edge.
History3
- 1982Bacon Road Water Treatment Facility opens in August 1982 as the East Sub-District plant in Painesville Township.
- 2017-2023Lake Erie bluff erosion near the plant accelerates, taking roughly 60 feet of bank, most of it in the final two years.
- 2023Lake County posts a shore protection and bluff rehabilitation project in March to safeguard the plant's intake infrastructure.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Conventional surface-water treatment: traveling screens, rapid mix, flocculation, sedimentation with about four hours of settling, dual-media anthracite-and-sand filtration, then disinfection. A 300,000-gallon backwash tank and two 500,000-gallon clearwells.
Water pressure
Not published in county utility materials.
What it costs
$6.26 per 1,000 gallons
Metered water is $4.68 per 100 cubic feet (748 gal) with a $42.12 quarterly minimum; the $4.48 per 1,000 gallons often quoted is the sanitary sewer rate.
Water quality & impurities1
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turbidity Highest 2025 reading for Lake County East; 100% of monthly samples met the limit | 0.12 NTU | 0.3 | 2025 |
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0 ppb in 2024 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
Projects & plans2
Recent and current work
- Lake County East Water Plant Shore Protection · 2023 · planned
Bluff and shoreline rehabilitation protecting telecom lines and two water mains carrying up to 9 MGD; cost not published.
Planned or needed
- Shore erosion mitigation at Bacon Road plant · 2023 · planned
Erosion had reached within 20 feet of telecom lines and 50 feet of two water mains as of the March 2023 announcement.
Supply stress
The documented risk is physical, not supply quantity: Lake Erie bluff erosion of roughly 10 feet a year has cut 60 feet of bank since 2017 near the plant. Ohio EPA treats all surface sources as susceptible; no harmful algal bloom problem is documented for this eastern-basin intake.
Sewers
Sanitary
Lake County Department of Utilities runs six wastewater plants: the Gary L. Kron Water Reclamation Facility in Mentor (20 MGD) and the Madison plant (5 MGD), both discharging to Lake Erie, plus four package plants (Heatherstone to the Grand River, Rio Grande, Sunshine Acres, Dodd Hill).
Storm
No dedicated county stormwater utility fee found and no combined-sewer-overflow program documented for this area; the county does publish sanitary sewer overflow notifications.
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Main supplier in 2 ZIP codes
Serves
Main water supplier in 2 ZIP codes
- 44081 · Perry Township and Perry92% of residents
- 44057 · Madison Township and Madison56% of residents
Also present in 2 more ZIP codes
- 44077 · Painesville20% of residents
- 44041 · Geneva1% 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
Lake County East Water Subdistrict does not buy water from another system on record; it treats its own source water.
No other system is on record buying water from Lake County East Water Subdistrict.
What the records show about Lake County East Water Subdistrict
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Lake County East Water Subdistrict as owned by a local government. It has 11,352 service connections and serves 40,656 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 440-350-2155.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Lake County East Water Subdistrict: corrosion control, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, iron and manganese removal, fluoridation, powdered activated carbon, 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 Lake County East Water Subdistrict since 2015.
EPA logs no violations of any kind for Lake County East Water Subdistrict 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 2024, the 90th-percentile lead result at Lake County East Water Subdistrict was 0 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027. A result of 0 means at least nine in ten of the homes sampled had no lead detected.
The highest result on file is 2.3 ppb, in the period ending December 2018.
EPA has 4 sampling periods on file for Lake County East Water Subdistrict 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 Lake County East Water Subdistrict sent EPA, 12,302 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 4,250 |
| Not lead | 8,052 |
| All lines | 12,302 |
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 10 samples of the water entering the pipes of Lake County East Water Subdistrict in 2023 to 2024 and measured 29 PFAS. No PFAS was detected, PFOA and PFOS (federal limit 4 ng/L each) among them.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Lake County East Water Subdistrict (latest sample July 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 Lake County East Water Subdistrict 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 Lake County East Water Subdistrict's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 48.5 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 51.7 µg/L and the highest single sample was 83.3 µg/L, from 116 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 26 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 26 µg/L and the highest single sample was 46.3 µg/L, from 116 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 48.5 µg/L (2019) | 51.7 µg/L | 83.3 µg/L | 116 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 26 µg/L | 26 µg/L | 46.3 µg/L | 116 |
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 97 samples was 1.34 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2013; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 0.98 mg/L. No sample was over the limit of 10 mg/L. Nitrate above 10 is unsafe for infants.
Arsenic was not detected in 8 samples (limit 10 µg/L).
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 97 | 1.34 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 8 | 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 8 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | 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 8 of 8 samples, highest 80 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine, alachlor, chromium, cadmium, mercury, selenium, and thallium, in 8 samples each.
| Substance | Kind | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atrazine | Farm chemical | 3 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Alachlor | Farm chemical | 2 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Chromium | Metal | 100 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Cadmium | Metal | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 8 | 8 of 8 | 80 µg/L | 0 |
| Mercury | Metal | 2 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Selenium | Metal | 50 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Thallium | Metal | 2 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | 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 4,009 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Lake County East Water Subdistrict tested positive (0.05%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 480 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 Lake County East Water Subdistrict adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at Lake County East Water Subdistrict.
Measured fluoride: 1 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2019 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.32 to 1.17 mg/L across 8 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 4 UCMR 5 samples at Lake County East Water Subdistrict, 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.
Algal toxins
Ohio EPA tests for microcystin, a toxin that harmful algal blooms can release, in raw water at the intake and in treated water.
At the intake, microcystin was detected 12 times in 231 raw-water samples, across 3 bloom seasons (2016 to 2019); the highest raw-water result was 1.163 µg/L on September 19, 2017. There has been no raw-water detection since 2024.
Microcystin was never detected in treated water (89 samples).
In all, 320 samples from 2016 to 2026, the latest on August 24, 2026.
| Water | Samples | Detections | Highest result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw water, at the intake | 231 | 12 | 1.163 µg/L |
| Treated water | 89 | 0 | not detected |
The ten-day advisory levels for treated water are 0.3 µg/L for children under six and 1.6 µg/L for everyone else. Any detection at the intake triggers more frequent testing until two clean weeks.
Source: Ohio EPA public water system harmful algal bloom monitoring, 2016 to present (HAB data, fetched September 2026).
How well the service area is mapped
The service area drawn on the map for Lake County East Water Subdistrict comes from the utility's own map.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 28,977 residents are inside the boundary, 71% of the 40,656 people Lake County East Water Subdistrict 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.
On the map
Show this system's territory on the map — 4 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 OH4302911 (EPA ECHO).
Lake County East Water Subdistrict's own pages: lakecountyohio.gov, lakecountyohio.gov
