Water system
Sheffield Lake City
EPA ID OH4701103 · Lorain County · 9,108 people served · owned by a local government
Sheffield Lake City buys its water from Avon Lake City.
The system's record
Also connected to Lorain City (Lake Erie), used as a secondary or emergency supply.
- Water bodies
- Lake Erie
- Raw intakes
- Avon Lake Lake Erie
- Serves
- 23,659 people · Lorain County
- EPA ID
- OH4700311
About this area's water
Did you know
- Sheffield Lake treats none of its own water. It buys from Avon Lake Regional Water, a utility founded in 1925 with a $390,000 investment to serve 1,200 people that now supplies over 200,000 residents across 680 square…
- The city buys a little over 233 million gallons of water a year but pumps a little over 300 million gallons of sewage to Lorain's Black River plant - it neither treats nor produces a drop of either.
- Sheffield Lake, Sheffield Village and Sheffield Township all trace to a single 1815 founding and held a joint bicentennial in 2015. Sheffield Lake split off in 1920 when residents east of the Black River voted out of…
- The city bought treated water through pipes described in its own billing notice as 'over 100 years old' in places - the Alameda Avenue mains replaced in 2025 were roughly a century old.
History6
- 1815Common founding year of Sheffield, marked by a joint bicentennial in 2015 with Sheffield Village and Sheffield Township; the city seal reads 'Founded 1815'. Settlers adopted the name Sheffield in…
- 1920Township residents living east of the Black River voted to withdraw from Sheffield Township and incorporate as the Village of Sheffield Lake, electing Harry Woodruff as first mayor.
- 1925Avon Lake Regional Water, Sheffield Lake's bulk water supplier, founded with a $390,000 investment in land and facilities to serve 1,200 Avon Lake residents; it now serves over 200,000 people across…
- 1933Farmers in the southern part of the village voted to separate from Sheffield Lake, forming Brookside Township, which incorporated a year later as the Village of Sheffield.
- 1960Following the 1960 census, the Village of Sheffield Lake, population 6,800, became the City of Sheffield Lake; Frank Duguid continued as its first city mayor.
- 2022Sewage treatment charges rose in the July 2022 bill after Lorain's Black River Wastewater Treatment Plant passed a cost increase on to Sheffield Lake; neighbouring communities using the plant also…
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Sheffield Lake treats no water of its own. Its 2026 Consumer Confidence Report (for calendar year 2025) states that Sheffield Lake PWS receives its drinking water from Avon Lake Regional Water (Avon Lake City PWS), which draws Lake Erie water through two separate intakes and treats it at a…
Source: sheffieldlake.netavonlakewater.orgsheffieldlake.net
Water pressure
Not published. No psi values or pressure zones appear in the CCR, the department pages or council minutes. The city owns and manages a water tower; in March 2025 the service…
What it costs
$3.73 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $18 a month for water.
From the city's own 'About your monthly services bill' page. Water: a $6.75 monthly base fee covering the first 99 cubic feet, then $2.79 per 100 cubic feet. At 1 ccf = 748…
Source: sheffieldlake.net
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turbidity Highest recorded result at the Avon Lake water treatment plant; soil runoff. No violation. | 0.15 (range… NTU | TT (0.3 NTU in… | 2025 |
| Turbidity (% of samples meeting… Lowest monthly percentage of samples meeting the turbidity limit was 100%. | 100% % | TT | 2025 |
| Total Organic Carbon (TOC) removal ratio Lowest ratio of TOC removed to TOC required to be removed; a value of at least 1 means compliance. | 1.47 (range… ratio | TT (at least 1) | 2025 |
| Total Chlorine Running annual average including 2024 and 2025 results; no violation. | 1.16 (range… ppm | MRDL 4 | 2025 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Disinfection by-product; running annual average; no violation. | 11.3 (range… ppb | MCL 60 | 2025 |
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Disinfection by-product; running annual average, 57% of the MCL - the system's highest detection relative to its limit. | 45.8 (range… ppb | MCL 80 | 2025 |
| Barium Drilling wastes, metal refineries, erosion of natural deposits; no violation. | 0.03 ppm | MCL 2 | 2025 |
| Fluoride Added at the Avon Lake plant plus natural deposits; no violation. | 0.71 (range… ppm | MCL 4 | 2025 |
| Nitrate (as N) Runoff from fertiliser, leaching from septic and sewage, erosion of natural deposits; no violation. | 0.925 (range… ppm | MCL 10 | 2025 |
| Lead (90th percentile) Zero of 20 samples exceeded the lead action level. | <1.90 ppb | AL 15 | 2025 |
Source: sheffieldlake.net
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 1.9 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).
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 & plans5
Recent and current work
- Alameda Avenue Phase 2 water main replacement · 2025 · completed
New water main installed and active by May 2025, old lines removed or filled with low-strength mortar, followed by drain installation, sanitary upgrades and… - West Drive reconstruction with water main replacement · $1.4 million · 2025 · under construction
Bidding authorised June 2025, fully funded with grants and loans at $1,410,000 (Ohio Public Works Commission), with a separate OWDA loan application covering… - 2025 Ohio Water Development Authority water-construction loans · $765,532 · 2025 · completed
The OWDA 2025 Annual Report lists two water-construction loan awards to Sheffield Lake, Lorain County: $535,427 and $230,105 (total $765,532). The report does…
Source: owda.orgsheffieldlake.netsheffieldlake.net
Planned or needed
- Water tower engineering review · 2025 · planned
In March 2025 the service director reported receiving and intending to move forward with a contract review proposal from Dixon Engineering for the water tower.… - No published multi-year capital plan
The city posts council and committee minutes but no capital improvement plan, asset management plan or rate ordinance schedule online, so future work beyond…
Source: sheffieldlake.netowda.org
Sewers
Sanitary
Sheffield Lake treats no sewage. It collects wastewater through about 188,000 linear feet of city sewers and three pump stations and pumps all of it to the City of Lorain's Black River Wastewater Treatment Plant, averaging a little over 300 million gallons a year - notably more than the roughly 233 million gallons of water the city buys.…
Storm
Separate from the sanitary system. The city operates roughly 101,000 linear feet of storm drainage and bills a Storm Water Utility (STW) fee on the monthly services bill covering operation, management, maintenance, repair, construction, reconstruction…
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
- 44054 · Sheffield Lake75% 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
Sheffield Lake City buys its water from Avon Lake City.
No other system is on record buying water from Sheffield Lake City.
What the records show about Sheffield Lake City
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Sheffield Lake City as owned by a local government. It has 3,430 service connections and serves 9,108 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 440-949-6259.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
Sheffield Lake 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.
Sheffield Lake 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 Sheffield Lake City since 2015.
EPA logs 1 violation of any kind 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).
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 Sheffield Lake City was 1.9 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
The highest result on file is 6.3 ppb, in the period ending December 2020.
EPA has 10 sampling periods on file for Sheffield Lake City since 2016, the first ending in 2016; 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 Sheffield Lake City sent EPA, 3,212 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 4 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 1 |
| Unknown material | 1,942 |
| Not lead | 1,265 |
| All lines | 3,212 |
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 4 samples of the water entering the pipes of Sheffield Lake 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 Sheffield Lake City's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 38 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 42.8 µg/L and the highest single sample was 45.1 µg/L, from 32 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 18.7 µg/L and the highest single sample was 31.2 µg/L, from 32 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 38 µg/L (2019) | 42.8 µg/L | 45.1 µg/L | 32 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 15.6 µg/L | 18.7 µg/L | 31.2 µg/L | 32 |
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 Sheffield Lake 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 Sheffield Lake 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 Sheffield Lake 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, 0 of 960 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Sheffield Lake City tested positive (0%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 120 did.
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 Sheffield Lake 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 Sheffield Lake City buys.
Measured fluoride: 0.92 mg/L on average leaving the plants of Avon Lake City, which supplies Sheffield Lake 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 4 UCMR 5 samples at Sheffield Lake 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 Sheffield Lake 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).
How well the service area is mapped
EPA estimated the service area of Sheffield Lake City with a computer model rather than drawing it from the utility's map, so its edges are approximate.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 9,329 residents are inside the boundary, 102% of the 9,108 people Sheffield Lake 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.
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 OH4701103 (EPA ECHO).
Sheffield Lake City's own pages: sheffieldlake.net, avonlakewater.org
Notable facts: avonlakewater.org, sheffieldlake.net, sheffieldlake.net, sheffieldlake.net
History: sheffieldlake.net, avonlakewater.org, sheffieldlake.net, owda.org
Water quality: sheffieldlake.net
Planned work: sheffieldlake.net, owda.org
Water pressure: sheffieldlake.net, sheffieldlake.net
Capital projects: owda.org, sheffieldlake.net, sheffieldlake.net, sheffieldlake.net
Rates: sheffieldlake.net
Sewers: sheffieldlake.net, sheffieldlake.net, sheffieldlake.net
Treatment: sheffieldlake.net, avonlakewater.org, sheffieldlake.net
Supply stress: sheffieldlake.net, avonlakewater.org, sheffieldlake.net