Water system
Waterville City
EPA ID OH4801503 · Lucas County · 6,500 people served · owned by a local government
Waterville City buys its water from Bowling Green City.
The system's record
- Water bodies
- Maumee River, Bowling Green Reservoir
- Raw intakes
- Reservoir
Maumee River - Serves
- 31,578 people · Wood County
- EPA ID
- OH8700311
About this area's water
Did you know
- Waterville keeps an emergency connection to Toledo's water system at Waterville-Monclova and Dutch roads that, in the city's own words, has never been used - it exists purely in case the Bowling Green supply is lost for…
- The water arrives by way of a 170-million-gallon above-ground reservoir: Bowling Green pulls from the Maumee only when the river is running clean, then treats it through both a conventional train and a reverse-osmosis…
- Platted in 1830, Waterville waited 181 years to become a legal city - it incorporated as one in 2011.
- Ohio's 2020 statewide PFAS survey found none of the six tested compounds in Bowling Green's finished water, but 2024 unregulated monitoring picked up trace PFBA, PFHxA and PFPeA in the low parts per trillion.
- The 2025 report carries an unusual footnote: the unregulated-contaminant table was added as a correction for information missing from the previous year's report.
History5
- 1830Waterville is platted by settler John Pray on the west bank of the upper Maumee River.
- 2011Waterville, long a village, incorporates as a city.
- 2020Bowling Green's supply, which serves Waterville, is sampled under Ohio EPA's statewide PFAS Sampling Initiative; none of the six PFAS compounds tested were found in the finished drinking water.
- 2024The Bowling Green Water Treatment Plant participates in the fifth round of the federal Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR5), detecting trace unregulated PFAS compounds.
- 2026In February the city publishes its lead service line maps - a combined map plus seven area maps, A through G - under the federal Lead and Copper Rule.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Waterville treats no raw water. It buys finished water from the City of Bowling Green Water Treatment Plant, which draws surface water from an intake on the Maumee River only when the river supply is of high quality and banks it in a 170-million-gallon above-ground reservoir. Bowling Green runs two…
Source: waterville.orgbgohio.govdata.epa.gov
Water pressure
Not published. No pressure zone or psi figure appears in the city's utilities pages or in the 2025 consumer confidence report.
Source: waterville.orgwaterville.org
What it costs
Not published. The city's utilities page covers billing mechanics only - bills mailed the last day of each month and due on the 15th, a $100 deposit on new accounts credited back…
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) Bowling Green's 2025 result for the water Waterville buys; range of detections 34.3-85.7, so individual sites exceeded… | 66.6 ppb | 80 | 2025 |
| Haloacetic acids (HAA5) Supplier (Bowling Green) result; range 8.3-27.7. | 23.1 ppb | 60 | 2025 |
| Nitrate Supplier result; range under 0.2 to 7.3. High for a finished water and a direct signature of agricultural runoff in the… | 7.3 ppm | 10 | 2025 |
| Fluoride Supplier result; range 0.87-1.18. | 1.03 ppm | 4 | 2025 |
| Barium Supplier result. | 0.013 ppm | 2 | 2025 |
| Turbidity 0.10 NTU is Bowling Green's highest 2025 reading (range 0.02-0.10). Waterville's CCR separately states that 100% of its… | 0.10 NTU… NTU / %… | treatment… | 2025 |
| Total organic carbon (TOC) removal ratio Supplier result; range 2.4-3.4. Bowling Green remained in compliance with TOC removal requirements. | 2.9 ratio | treatment… | 2025 |
| Total chlorine Supplier result; range 1.3-1.6. | 1.5 ppm | MRDL 4.0 | 2025 |
| Lead (90th percentile) Supplier result; 0 of 31 samples above the action level. | <4 ppb | action level 15 | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) Supplier result; 0 of 31 samples above the action level. | 0.029 ppm | action level 1.3 | 2025 |
Source: bgohio.govwaterville.org
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.
EPA compliance record · Bowling Green 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.
2 violations of any kind logged since 2020: 2 for required testing that was missed or reported late.
Projects & plans2
Recent and current work
- Lead service line inventory and area maps · 2026 · completed
The city published a combined lead service line and fixture map plus seven area maps (A through G) in February 2026 under federal and state Lead and Copper… - Bowling Green Water Treatment Plant filter and membrane upgrades · 2025 · completed
The supplier's project, not Waterville's: six rapid sand filters rebuilt from the bottoms up with air added to the backwash cycle, and two microfiltration…
Source: waterville.orgbgohio.gov
Supply stress
The whole supply comes from the Maumee River, the largest and most nutrient-loaded tributary of western Lake Erie. Bowling Green's source water assessment calls the intake susceptible to contamination from agricultural runoff, industrial stormwater, wastewater discharges, landfills and oil and gas wells, and says the city has…
Source: bgohio.govdata.epa.gov
Sewers
Sanitary
Waterville operates its own sanitary sewer system: the city issues sanitary sewer inspection permits and abandon-septic-tank permits, and rates are set by Chapter 935 of the codified ordinances. The wastewater plant's operator, capacity and receiving stream are not stated on any city page.
Storm
The city runs a separate storm sewer system - it issues storm sewer tap inspection permits and regulates the system under Chapter 941, Storm Sewer System Illicit Discharge and Illegal Connection Control, alongside Chapter 939 on erosion and sediment control.…
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
- 43566 · Waterville73% 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
Waterville City buys its water from Bowling Green City.
No other system is on record buying water from Waterville City.
What the records show about Waterville City
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Waterville City as owned by a local government. It has 3,267 service connections and serves 6,500 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 419-878-8100.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
Waterville City buys water that Bowling Green City treats first, so the steps that count are the seller's. EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Bowling Green City: aeration, corrosion control, cartridge filtration, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, iron and manganese removal, fluoridation, granular activated carbon, lime softening, reverse osmosis, sand or media filtration, and ultraviolet disinfection.
Waterville 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 Waterville City since 2015.
EPA logs no violations of any kind for Waterville City 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 Waterville 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.
EPA has 10 sampling periods on file for Waterville City 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 Waterville City sent EPA, 2,550 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 66 |
| Unknown material | 1,973 |
| Not lead | 511 |
| All lines | 2,550 |
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 Waterville City in 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 PFPeA 9.1 ng/L, PFBA 6.9 ng/L, and PFHxA 6.6 ng/L.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Bowling Green City (latest sample September 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 Bowling Green City as sampled, most recently March 2024.
| 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 Waterville City's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 32.9 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 45.4 µg/L and the highest single sample was 96 µg/L, from 65 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 10.4 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 15.3 µg/L and the highest single sample was 31.2 µg/L, from 64 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 32.9 µg/L (2019) | 45.4 µg/L | 96 µg/L | 65 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 10.4 µg/L | 15.3 µg/L | 31.2 µg/L | 64 |
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 Waterville City buys is treated by Bowling Green City, so the results below are Bowling Green City's.
Nitrate: the highest of 174 samples was 8.68 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2013; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 4.12 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) | 174 | 8.68 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 of Bowling Green City.
Solvents and fuels
The water Waterville City buys is treated by Bowling Green City, so the results below are Bowling Green 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 Bowling Green City.
Farm chemicals and metals
The water Waterville City buys is treated by Bowling Green City, so the results below are Bowling Green City's.
EPA's file holds results for all nine herbicides and metals it checked. Detected: atrazine in 1 of 25 samples, highest 0.82 µg/L (limit 3); barium in 8 of 8 samples, highest 16 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: alachlor in 25 samples, 2,4-D in 3 samples, chromium in 8 samples, cadmium in 8 samples, mercury in 8 samples, selenium in 8 samples, thallium in 8 samples.
| Substance | Kind | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atrazine | Farm chemical | 3 µg/L | 25 | 1 of 25 | 0.82 µg/L | 0 |
| Alachlor | Farm chemical | 2 µg/L | 25 | 0 of 25 | not detected | 0 |
| 2,4-D | Farm chemical | 70 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | 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 | 16 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 of Bowling Green City.
Bacteria in the pipes
From 2012 to 2019, 1 of 577 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Waterville City tested positive (0.17%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 72 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 Waterville City buys its water from Toledo City Of, 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 Bowling Green City, which treats the water Waterville City buys.
Measured fluoride: 1.06 mg/L on average leaving the plants of Bowling Green City, which supplies Waterville City, in 2019 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.86 to 1.13 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 Waterville City, last sampled in 2024 (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 Waterville City buys is treated by Bowling Green City, so the results below are Bowling Green 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 25 times in 229 raw-water samples, across 7 bloom seasons (2016 to 2026); the highest raw-water result was 2.295 µg/L on July 24, 2018. The highest raw-water result since 2024 was 0.847 µg/L.
Microcystin was never detected in treated water (138 samples).
In all, 367 samples from 2016 to 2026, the latest on August 18, 2026.
| Water | Samples | Detections | Highest result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw water, at the intake | 229 | 25 | 2.295 µg/L |
| Treated water | 138 | 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 Waterville 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 6,094 residents are inside the boundary, 94% of the 6,500 people Waterville 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 OH4801503 (EPA ECHO).
Notable facts: waterville.org, bgohio.gov, en.wikipedia.org
History: waterville.org, waterville.org, en.wikipedia.org
Water quality: bgohio.gov, waterville.org
Water pressure: waterville.org, waterville.org
Capital projects: waterville.org, bgohio.gov
Rates: waterville.org, waterville.org, waterville.org, codelibrary.amlegal.com
Sewers: waterville.org, codelibrary.amlegal.com
Treatment: waterville.org, bgohio.gov, data.epa.gov
Supply stress: bgohio.gov, data.epa.gov
