Water system
Avon City
EPA ID OH4700203 · Lorain County · 23,800 people served · owned by a local government
Avon City buys its water from Avon Lake City.
The system's record
- Water bodies
- Lake Erie
- Raw intakes
- Avon Lake Lake Erie
- Serves
- 23,659 people · Lorain County
- EPA ID
- OH4700311
About this area's water Avon Lake City
Did you know
- The utility began in 1925 with $390,000 and 1,200 customers; today it is roughly a $60 million operation serving over 200,000 people across a 680-square-mile territory in seven counties.
- About 85% of the water the plant produces is sold outside Avon Lake's own city limits — to Avon, North Ridgeville, Sheffield Lake, Medina and others.
- Lab staff run about 150 water quality tests a day, more than 50,000 a year.
- Four of the plant's filters were the originals installed in 1926; they are being replaced in the upgrade that broke ground in 2024, after nearly a century of service.
- The 2017 tower replacement swapped a 500,000-gallon tank for a 3-million-gallon one — a sixfold jump in elevated storage for $8 million.
History6
- 1925Avon Lake's water system was established with an initial investment of $390,000 (1925 dollars) in land and facilities, serving about 1,200 residents.
- 1926The original Lake Erie filtration plant and administration buildings were built on Lake Road with a maximum capacity of 2 million gallons per day.
- 2017…Began adding orthophosphate to the finished water for corrosion control, coating pipe interiors to reduce lead and copper leaching.
- 2017…A new 3-million-gallon water tower bowl went into service, replacing a 500,000-gallon tank; $8 million, financed by a 0-percent Ohio EPA loan repaid through roughly $4/year per customer.
- 2018-2019West Ridge interconnection built, giving Avon Lake, the Rural Lorain County Water Authority and the City of Elyria a shared emergency backup connection rated up to 8 MGD; cost split ALRW 40% / RLCWA…
- 2016-2019$35 million rehabilitation of the Water Reclamation Facility to expand treatment capacity.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Lake Erie surface water is drawn through two separate offshore intakes (ALRW describes them only as "two separate intakes" — no pipe diameters are published) to the Water Filtration Plant at 33370 Lake Rd. Treatment is conventional surface-water filtration: powdered activated carbon (fed year-round…
Source: avonlakewater.orgavonlakewater.orgavonlakewater.org
Water pressure
Not published — no psi figure appears in the utility's CCR, rate schedule, or plant pages. The system does hold 3 million gallons of elevated storage: a new tower bowl put in…
Source: patch.comavonlakewater.org
What it costs
$2.25 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $10 a month for water.
Effective 1/1/2026, residential standard 3/4-inch meter. Avon Lake bills QUARTERLY, not monthly. Water: $8.37 quarterly minimum service fee (includes the first 2,000 gallons)…
Source: avonlakewater.org
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 17.1 to 51.6 ppb; disinfection byproduct. No violation. | 36.55 ppb | 80 (MCL) | 2023 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Range 9.60 to 20.3 ppb; disinfection byproduct. No violation. | 16.8 ppb | 60 (MCL) | 2023 |
| Total Chlorine Range 1.20 to 1.40 ppm; disinfectant residual. | 1.39 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2023 |
| Total Organic Carbon (TOC) Range 1.0 to 1.7. Reported as the removal ratio; above 1 means compliant. | 1.32 ratio | TT | 2023 |
| Turbidity Range 0.02 to 0.20 NTU; 100% of samples met the treatment technique standard. | 0.20 (highest) NTU | TT | 2023 |
| Fluoride Range 0.69 to 1.20 ppm; naturally occurring plus additive for dental health. | 0.69 ppm | 4 (MCL) | 2023 |
| Nitrate Range 0.134 to 0.96 ppm; well below MCL. | 0.96 ppm | 10 (MCL) | 2023 |
| Barium Erosion of natural deposits; discharge of drilling wastes and from metal refineries. | 0.02 ppm | 2 (MCL) | 2023 |
| Lead (90th percentile, tap samples) No individual results over the action level. The CCR does not publish a tap-sample count; the "61" in the report is the… | <2.0 ppb | 15 (action… | 2023 |
| Copper (90th percentile, tap samples) No individual results over the action level. | 0.06 ppm | 1.3 (action… | 2023 |
Source: avonlakewater.org
EPA compliance record · Avon City
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
2 violations of any kind logged since 2020: 2 for required testing that was missed or reported late.
EPA compliance record · Avon Lake City (treats the water)
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0 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).
Projects & plans8
Recent and current work
- 3-million-gallon water tower bowl replacement · $8 million · 2017 · completed
Replaced a 500,000-gallon tank; financed with a 0-percent Ohio EPA loan. - Orthophosphate corrosion control · 2017 · completed
Phosphate dosing began September 11, 2017, within Ohio EPA-approved guidelines. - West Ridge interconnection (ALRW / RLCWA / Elyria) · 2018-2019 · completed
Emergency backup connection rated up to 8 MGD. Up to $3 million was requested from the Water Supply Revolving Loan Account; the final construction cost is not… - Water Reclamation Facility rehabilitation · $35 million · 2016-2019 · completed
Increased treatment capacity to meet growing demand on the collection system. - Combined sewer separation program · 1974-2019 · completed
Begun under a 1974 City Master Sewer Plan after the 1972 Clean Water Act; final conversion December 2019. - Water Filtration Plant filtration and chemical feed/storage upgrade · 2024-2026 · under construction
Four new larger filters added at the end of the existing twelve, replacing units including the original 1926 filters; expanded chemical storage and conversion…
Source: patch.comavonlakewater.orgavonlakewater.org
Planned or needed
- On-site sodium hypochlorite generation from salt · planned
ALRW says it is preparing to pilot the first system of its kind in Ohio, generating hypochlorite from sodium chloride on site, pending Ohio EPA approval, to… - Property acquisition adjacent to the Water Filtration Plant · proposed
The Board acquired several adjacent properties to allow future capacity expansion for expected county growth. No project scope or cost published.
Source: avonlakewater.org
Supply stress
Source is Lake Erie through two intakes, which the utility describes as a "virtually endless source of quality raw water" — volume is not the constraint. Ohio EPA's Drinking Water Source Assessment finds the protection area (critical assessment zone) susceptible to contamination from municipal and industrial wastewater discharges, air…
Source: avonlakewater.org
Sewers
Sanitary
Avon Lake Regional Water operates the Water Reclamation Facility, serving all of Avon Lake, the northern part of Avon, and the Lorain County Rural Wastewater District (LORCO) in and around Eaton and Carlisle Townships. Rated 6.5 MGD normal flow with capacity to accept as much as 12.5 MGD in wet weather. Final effluent discharges to Lake…
Storm
No separate stormwater utility or stormwater fee is documented in the utility's published rate schedule or service pages. Wet-weather flow was addressed through the combined-sewer separation program completed in 2019 and the added wet-weather capacity at the…
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Main supplier in 1 ZIP code
Serves
Main water supplier in 1 ZIP code
- 44011 · Avon100% 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
Avon City buys its water from Avon Lake City.
No other system is on record buying water from Avon City.
What the records show about Avon City
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Avon City as owned by a local government. It has 9,493 service connections and serves 23,800 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 440-937-5084.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
Avon City buys water that Avon Lake City treats first, so the steps that count are the seller's. EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Avon Lake City: corrosion control, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, iron and manganese removal, fluoridation, powdered activated carbon, and sand or media filtration.
Avon City 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 Avon City since 2015.
EPA logs 2 violations of any kind since 2020: 2 for required testing that was missed or reported late.
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 Avon City 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 2.4 ppb, in the period ending December 2021.
EPA has 9 sampling periods on file for Avon City 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 Avon City sent EPA, 9,492 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 0 |
| Not lead | 9,492 |
| All lines | 9,492 |
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 25 samples of the water entering the pipes of Avon City in 2023 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 Avon Lake City (latest sample September 2020). Not one of the six PFAS tested (PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS) was detected.
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 Avon City's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 38.6 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 43.5 µg/L and the highest single sample was 58.2 µg/L, from 84 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 21.8 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 21.8 µg/L and the highest single sample was 33.8 µg/L, from 84 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 38.6 µg/L (2019) | 43.5 µg/L | 58.2 µg/L | 84 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 21.8 µg/L | 21.8 µg/L | 33.8 µg/L | 84 |
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 Avon City buys is treated by Avon Lake City, so the results below are Avon Lake City's.
Nitrate: the highest of 96 samples was 1.41 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2018; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 1.06 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) | 96 | 1.41 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 8 | not detected | 10 µg/L | 0 |
| Combined radium | 2 | not detected | 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 of Avon Lake City.
Solvents and fuels
The water Avon City buys is treated by Avon Lake City, so the results below are Avon Lake City'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 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 of Avon Lake City.
Farm chemicals and metals
The water Avon City buys is treated by Avon Lake City, so the results below are Avon Lake City's.
EPA's file holds results for 8 of the nine herbicides and metals it checked. Detected: barium in 8 of 8 samples, highest 32.9 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine in 8 samples, alachlor in 8 samples, chromium in 8 samples, cadmium in 8 samples, mercury in 8 samples, selenium in 8 samples, thallium in 9 samples.
| 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 | 32.9 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 | 9 | 0 of 9 | 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 Avon Lake City.
Bacteria in the pipes
From 2012 to 2019, 1 of 1,979 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Avon City tested positive (0.05%); in 2019, the last year on file, 1 of 300 did. E. coli was never found in the 1 sample 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 Avon City buys its water from Avon Lake City, 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 Avon Lake City, which treats the water Avon City buys.
Measured fluoride: 0.92 mg/L on average leaving the plants of Avon Lake City, which supplies Avon City, in 2019 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.91 to 1.09 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 12 UCMR 5 samples at Avon 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.
Algal toxins
The water Avon City buys is treated by Avon Lake City, so the results below are Avon Lake City'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 8 times in 285 raw-water samples, across 4 bloom seasons (2016 to 2025); the highest raw-water result was 0.72 µg/L on October 4, 2016. The highest raw-water result since 2024 was 0.254 µg/L.
Microcystin was never detected in treated water (285 samples).
In all, 570 samples from 2016 to 2026, the latest on August 25, 2026.
| Water | Samples | Detections | Highest result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw water, at the intake | 285 | 8 | 0.72 µg/L |
| Treated water | 285 | 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).
Water and sewer bills
Ohio EPA's 2023 rate survey puts the water bill at Avon City for a household using 5,000 gallons a month at $377 a year, about $31 a month.
The sewer bill in the same survey is $498 a year at 5,000 gallons a month.
| Use | Water, per year | Sewer, per year |
|---|---|---|
| 2,500 gallons a month | $218 | $261 |
| 5,000 gallons a month | $377 | $498 |
| 8,000 gallons a month | $567 | $782 |
The survey lists it as “Avon”. These are inside-city rates and annual bills at the use shown.
Source: Ohio EPA 2023 Sewer and Water Rate Survey (Ohio State University, May 2025).
How well the service area is mapped
EPA's polygon for Avon City was misplaced, so this atlas substituted the municipal boundary.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 24,847 residents are inside the boundary, 104% of the 23,800 people Avon 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.
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 OH4700203 (EPA ECHO).
Avon City's own pages: avonlakewater.org, avonlakewater.org
