Water system
Rural Lorain Co. Water A
EPA ID OH4701803 · Lorain County · 73,125 people served · owned by a local government
Rural Lorain Co. Water A buys its water from Avon Lake City.
The system's record
Also connected to New London Village (Buck Creek, impounded in New London's upground reservoir), Ashland City (Jerome Fork Basin sand-and-gravel aquifer (wells)), 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
- RLCWA doesn't treat a drop of its own water -- every gallon is purchased pre-treated from three separate utilities and blended before it reaches a customer's tap.
- The New London Reservoir covers 220 acres and holds 1.4 billion gallons when full, fed by Buck Creek, a branch of the Vermilion River.
- Ashland's 12 supply wells tap the Jerome Fork basin at depths ranging from just 70 feet down to 300 feet.
- In 2023 RLCWA delivered an average of 5,744,491 gallons of drinking water a day -- all of it bought from someone else.
History5
- 2014City of Ashland's radium sample (0.189 pCi/L) collected -- the oldest result still carried forward in RLCWA's 2023 CCR table.
- 2016The federal Revised Total Coliform Rule took effect on April 1, changing how RLCWA and its sellers monitor for coliform bacteria.
- 2018Last radium and alpha-emitter samples on record for the New London source: radium 1.04 pCi/L and alpha emitters 5.4 pCi/L, both under their MCLs.
- 2020New London and Ashland were sampled for six PFAS compounds under Ohio's statewide PFAS initiative; none were detected in finished water.
- 2023RLCWA failed to collect corrosion-control water quality parameter samples at the Ohio EPA-required frequency in July-December, triggering a public notice.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
RLCWA operates no treatment plant; it blends finished water from three sellers: Avon Lake Regional Water (Lake Erie), the Village of New London (New London Reservoir, fed by Buck Creek) and the City of Ashland (12 Jerome Fork wells). All three filter and disinfect.
Water pressure
Not published; no service pressure or pressure-zone figures appear in the 2023 CCR.
What it costs
RLCWA's 2023 CCR does not publish a residential rate schedule.
Water quality & impurities8
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 19.2-79.8 ppb across the blended distribution system; no violation. | 59.825 ppb | 80 ppb (MCL) | 2023 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Range 7-48.6 ppb; byproduct of disinfection. | 38 ppb | 60 ppb (MCL) | 2023 |
| Lead (90th percentile) Zero of 32 samples exceeded the action level. | <2.0 ppb | 15 ppb action… | 2023 |
| Copper (90th percentile) Zero of 32 samples exceeded the action level. | 0.0559 ppm | 1.3 ppm action… | 2023 |
| Turbidity (New London source) Range 0.05-0.36 NTU from soil runoff; 100% of samples met the standard, no violation. | 0.36 NTU | TT: 0.3 NTU in… | 2023 |
| Radium (combined 226/228, New London) Well under the limit; most recent New London sample on record. | 1.04 pCi/L | 5 pCi/L (MCL) | 2018 |
| PFBA (unregulated, UCMR5) PFAS breakdown product, just over the 0.005 ppb minimum reporting level. | 0.0051 ppb | no MCL… | 2023 |
| Nitrate Highest of the three sources (Avon Lake); range 0.134-0.96 ppm, well below the limit. | 0.96 ppm | 10 ppm (MCL) | 2023 |
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
3 violations of any kind logged since 2020: 3 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).
Supply stress
No source of its own -- RLCWA depends entirely on three sellers. Ohio EPA found no direct pollution source for Avon Lake's Lake Erie intake; New London's reservoir sees soil-runoff turbidity; and Ashland's Jerome Fork wellfield is rated 'high susceptibility' for thin clay cover and a shallow water table.
Sewers
Sanitary
RLCWA is a water-only authority distributing purchased water across rural Lorain and Huron county communities; its materials describe no sewer service.
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Main supplier in 10 ZIP codes
Serves
Main water supplier in 13 ZIP codes
- 44049 · Kipton100% of residents
- 44874 · Savannah100% of residents
- 44880 · Sullivan Township and Sullivan100% of residents
- 44028 · Columbia Township and Columbia Station99% of residents
- 44859 · Troy Township and Nova96% of residents
- 44253 · Litchfield Township and Litchfield95% of residents
- 44235 · Homer Township and Homerville90% of residents
- 44044 · Grafton80% of residents
- 44090 · Wellington52% of residents
- 44275 · Spencer Township and Spencer48% of residents
- 44287 · Jackson Township and West Salem25% of residents
- 44866 · Jackson Township and Polk24% of residents
- 44889 · Wakeman Township and Wakeman23% of residents
Also present in 11 more ZIP codes
- 44050 · Lagrange Township and Lagrange32% of residents
- 44074 · Oberlin23% of residents
- 44035 · Elyria16% of residents
- 44851 · New London14% of residents
- 44138 · Olmsted Township and Olmsted Falls7% of residents
- 44837 · Greenwich7% of residents
- 44805 · Ashland4% of residents
- 44001 · Amherst3% of residents
- 44280 · Liverpool Township and Valley City2% of residents
- 44039 · North Ridgeville1% of residents
- 44256 · Medina1% 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
Rural Lorain Co. Water A buys its water from Avon Lake City.
9 systems on record buy water from Rural Lorain Co. Water A: Bailey Lakes Village, Grafton Village, Lagrange Village, Medina Co/northwest, Northern Ohio Rural Water - SE District, Pheasant Run Association, Sheffield Village, South Amherst Village, Spencer, Village Of.
What the records show about Rural Lorain Co. Water A
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Rural Lorain Co. Water A as owned by a local government. It has 23,200 service connections and serves 73,125 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 440-355-5121.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
Rural Lorain Co. Water A 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.
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 Rural Lorain Co. Water A since 2015.
EPA logs 3 violations of any kind since 2020: 3 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 Rural Lorain Co. Water A 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 4.8 ppb, in the period ending December 2017.
EPA has 10 sampling periods on file for Rural Lorain Co. Water A 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 Rural Lorain Co. Water A sent EPA, 24,908 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 0 |
| Not lead | 24,908 |
| All lines | 24,908 |
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 Rural Lorain Co. Water A in 2023 to 2024 and measured 29 PFAS.
PFOA and PFOS were not detected, against a federal limit of 4 ng/L each.
The highest PFAS results were PFBA 5.2 ng/L and PFHxA 3 ng/L.
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.
| Compound | Highest result | Federal limit |
|---|---|---|
| PFOA | not detected | 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 Rural Lorain Co. Water A's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 46.8 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 53.4 µg/L and the highest single sample was 93.9 µg/L, from 256 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 24.1 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 29.1 µg/L and the highest single sample was 61.2 µg/L, from 256 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 46.8 µg/L (2019) | 53.4 µg/L | 93.9 µg/L | 256 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 24.1 µg/L | 29.1 µg/L | 61.2 µg/L | 256 |
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 Rural Lorain Co. Water A 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 Rural Lorain Co. Water A 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 Rural Lorain Co. Water A 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 7,544 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Rural Lorain Co. Water A tested positive (0.01%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 978 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 Rural Lorain Co. Water A buys its water from Ashland 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 Rural Lorain Co. Water A buys.
Measured fluoride: 0.92 mg/L on average leaving the plants of Avon Lake City, which supplies Rural Lorain Co. Water A, 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 found in 2 of 10 UCMR 5 samples at Rural Lorain Co. Water A, highest 15.4 µg/L; detections averaged 13.6, last sampled in 2023.
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 Rural Lorain Co. Water A 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 Rural Lorain Co. Water A for a household using 5,000 gallons a month at $672 a year, about $56 a month.
| Use | Water, per year | Sewer, per year |
|---|---|---|
| 2,500 gallons a month | $398 | not on file |
| 5,000 gallons a month | $672 | not on file |
| 8,000 gallons a month | $934 | not on file |
The survey lists it as “Rural Lorain Co. Water Authority”. 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
The service area drawn on the map for Rural Lorain Co. Water A comes from the utility's own map.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 62,149 residents are inside the boundary, 85% of the 73,125 people Rural Lorain Co. Water A 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 — 24 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 OH4701803 (EPA ECHO).
Rural Lorain Co. Water A's own pages: cms9files.revize.com, avonlakewater.org, cityofelyria.org
