Water system
Hecla Water Association
EPA ID OH4401612 · Lawrence County · 34,942 people served
Hecla Water Association buys its water from Ironton.
The system's record
- Water bodies
- Ohio River
- Raw intakes
- Ironton Ohio River
- Serves
- 11,129 people · Lawrence County
- EPA ID
- OH4400711
About this area's water
Did you know
- Hecla Water was founded in 1969 by laundromat owner John Howard and eight neighbors, fed up with the area's water quality; the nine of them signed the incorporation papers.
- It grew from roughly 700 original taps to nearly 10,000 connections, and its eight-well field now pumps over two million gallons a day.
- Even though its own wells meet nearly all demand, Hecla keeps a standing tie to Ironton's 1993 Ohio River plant - under 1% of daily supply, feeding only the Coryville and Porter Gap areas.
- Hecla added its first water-softening step only in the last quarter of 2025, after decades of naturally hard groundwater averaging about 9 grains per gallon.
History5
- 1969Hecla Water Association is incorporated after laundromat owner John Howard and eight neighbors organize over poor local water quality.
- 1969The new association starts with about 700 taps, buying its water from the City of Ironton and the Village of Coal Grove.
- 1980Hecla builds its own treatment plant and well field above Proctorville in the Ohio River Valley Aquifer, becoming largely self-sufficient.
- 1993Ironton builds an Ohio River surface-water plant (~1.74 MGD) that Hecla still uses as a secondary and emergency source.
- 2025Hecla adds a water-softening step in the fourth quarter; 1 of 60 lead samples exceeds the action level in the Jul-Dec testing cycle.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Eight wells in the Ohio River Valley Aquifer along SR 7 near Athalia pump over 2 MGD, treated by sand filtration, fluoridation and chlorination, plus a softening step added in Q4 2025. Ironton's 1993 Ohio River plant (pre-sedimentation, upflow clarification, filtration, chlorination) is a backup.
Water pressure
No system-wide figure is published, but Hecla's customer-service materials say normal residential pressure should be 50-65 psi and that customer-installed pressure reducers be set…
What it costs
$16.40 per 1,000 gallons
2025 rates: minimum bill $25.15 (District 1) to $27.15 (District 7) covering the first 1,500 gallons a month, then $16.40 per 1,000 gallons in every district.
Water quality & impurities8
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM (Total Trihalomethanes) Range 14.1-81.0 ppb, no violation. | 51.4 ppb | 80 ppb | 2025 |
| HAA5 (Five Haloacetic Acids) Range 0.0-52.7 ppb, no violation. | 28.6 ppb | 60 ppb | 2025 |
| Nitrate Far below the limit; typical source is fertilizer and septic runoff. | 0.488 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 2025 |
| Fluoride Range 0.80-1.40 mg/L; added to promote strong teeth. | 1.09 mg/L | 4.0 mg/L | 2025 |
| Lead (90th percentile) 1 of 60 samples exceeded the action level in Jul-Dec 2025; the 90th percentile stayed well under. | 1.3 ppb | 15 ppb action… | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) 0 of 60 samples exceeded the action level. | 0.211 ppm | 1.3 ppm action… | 2025 |
| Radium-228 Reported as 0.84 +/- 0.64; no violation, naturally occurring. | 0.84 pCi/L | 5 pCi/L | 2021 |
| Total Hardness 9.04 grains/gallon, range 116-170 mg/L; prompted the Q4 2025 softening step. | 154.82 mg/L | not regulated | 2025 |
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 1.3 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
EPA compliance record · Ironton (treats the water)
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 1.1 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA health-based violations since 2015:
- 2024Lead and Copper Rule Revisions · lead service line inventory missing or incomplete (a records requirement, not a lead test result) · returned to compliance
13 violations of any kind logged since 2020: 2 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 10 for a report, record or notice that was missing, late or incomplete (the yearly water quality report, a public notice, lead line records); 1 health-based.
Projects & plans2
Recent and current work
- Water softening treatment addition · 2025 · completed
Softening process implemented in the last quarter of 2025 to cut natural groundwater hardness. - Lead service line inventory · 2025 · completed
Found no lead, galvanized-requiring-replacement or unknown-material lines, using records, parts inventory, visual inspections and as-builts.
Supply stress
Ohio EPA rates the well field moderately susceptible: the sand-and-gravel water table starts about 40 feet down under only 15-25 feet of sandy clay, and eight potential contaminant sources sit in the protection area - SR 7, the Ohio River, home septic systems, an auto body shop, fuel-storage commercial sites and a salvage yard. No…
Sewers
Sanitary
Hecla Water Association supplies drinking water only and operates no sanitary sewers. Incorporated villages in its service area, such as Chesapeake and Proctorville, run their own systems; the rural and unincorporated parts around Pedro, Kitts Hill and Waterloo are generally on individual septic systems.
Storm
No centralized stormwater utility was identified for this largely rural Lawrence County service area; drainage outside the villages is by natural topography and roadside ditches.
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Main supplier in 5 ZIP codes
Serves
Main water supplier in 8 ZIP codes
- 45645 · Lawrence Township and Kitts Hill100% of residents
- 45659 · Elizabeth Township and Pedro92% of residents
- 45669 · Rome Township and Proctorville80% of residents
- 45619 · Union Township and Chesapeake55% of residents
- 45688 · Symmes Township and Waterloo52% of residents
- 45696 · Mason Township and Willow Wood43% of residents
- 45678 · Windsor Township and Scottown6% of residents
- 45658 · Walnut Township and Patriot1% of residents
Also present in 3 more ZIP codes
- 45680 · Fayette Township and South Point29% of residents
- 45638 · Ironton20% of residents
- 45682 · Bloom Township and South Webster2% 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
Hecla Water Association buys its water from Ironton.
No other system is on record buying water from Hecla Water Association.
What the records show about Hecla Water Association
Who runs it
EPA's record says Hecla Water Association has 13,703 service connections and serves 34,942 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 740-533-0526.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
Hecla Water Association buys water that Ironton treats first, so the steps that count are the seller's. EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Ironton: corrosion control, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, iron and manganese removal, fluoridation, powdered activated carbon, and sand or media filtration.
Hecla Water Association itself also registers: lime 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 Hecla Water Association since 2015.
EPA logs no violations of any kind for Hecla Water Association 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 Hecla Water Association was 1.3 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
The highest result on file is 4 ppb, in the period ending December 2022.
EPA has 10 sampling periods on file for Hecla 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 Hecla Water Association sent EPA, 14,001 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 0 |
| Not lead | 14,001 |
| All lines | 14,001 |
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 8 samples of the water entering the pipes of Hecla Water Association in 2023 and measured 29 PFAS.
The highest PFOA or PFOS result, 6.8 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 PFOA 6.8 ng/L, HFPO-DA 5.5 ng/L, and PFBA 5.3 ng/L.
The highest PFOA or PFOS result was measured at Ironton Water Intertie.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Ironton (latest sample April 2021). 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 Hecla Water Association as sampled, most recently April 2026.
| Compound | Highest result | Federal limit |
|---|---|---|
| PFOA | 6.8 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 Hecla Water Association's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 38.6 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 46.5 µg/L and the highest single sample was 88.8 µg/L, from 132 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 16.6 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 21.1 µg/L and the highest single sample was 52.3 µg/L, from 133 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 38.6 µg/L (2019) | 46.5 µg/L | 88.8 µg/L | 132 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 16.6 µg/L | 21.1 µg/L | 52.3 µg/L | 133 |
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 0.63 mg/L (as nitrogen), in 2019, the last year sampled. 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) | 8 | 0.63 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 3 | not detected | 10 µg/L | 0 |
| Combined radium | 1 | 1.5 pCi/L | 5 pCi/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. Not detected: atrazine, alachlor, chromium, cadmium, barium, 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 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 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, 1 of 3,734 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Hecla Water Association tested positive (0.03%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 527 did. E. coli was never found in the 8 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 Hecla Water Association adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at Ironton, which treats the water Hecla Water Association buys.
Hecla Water Association itself also registers a fluoridation step.
Measured fluoride: 1.02 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2018 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.83 to 1.11 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 6 UCMR 5 samples at Hecla Water Association, 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
The water Hecla Water Association buys is treated by Ironton, so the results below are Ironton's.
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 1 time in 222 raw-water samples, across 1 bloom season (2025); the highest raw-water result was 0.25 µg/L on September 23, 2025. The highest raw-water result since 2024 was 0.25 µg/L.
Microcystin was never detected in treated water (79 samples).
In all, 301 samples from 2016 to 2026, the latest on August 25, 2026.
| Water | Samples | Detections | Highest result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw water, at the intake | 222 | 1 | 0.25 µg/L |
| Treated water | 79 | 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 Hecla Water Association comes from the utility's own map.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 25,807 residents are inside the boundary, 74% of the 34,942 people Hecla Water Association 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 — 11 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 OH4401612 (EPA ECHO).
Hecla Water Association's own pages: heclawater.com, softprowatersystems.com