Water system
Medina Co/northwest
EPA ID OH5201903 · Medina County · 46,324 people served · owned by a local government
Medina Co/northwest buys its water from Rural Lorain Co. Water A.
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
- This district owns no treatment plant: 46,324 people on 16,845 connections drink entirely purchased water, per EPA's SDWIS record for the system.
- RLCWA blends three unlike sources - Lake Erie via Avon Lake, a 1.4-billion-gallon reservoir at New London, and 12 Ashland wells 70 to 300 feet deep.
- Its engineers call RLCWA one of the largest rural water systems ever built in the U.S.: about 150,000 people over 520 square miles in five counties.
- The Avon Lake plant at the far end of this supply chain has been filtering Lake Erie since 1926, and began selling wholesale to RLCWA in 1975.
History5
- 1926Avon Lake's Lake Erie filtration plant goes into operation; it later becomes the wholesale source at the head of this district's supply chain.
- 1973Rural Lorain County Water Authority formed after a petition from 16 townships and 2 villages; it becomes this district's wholesale supplier.
- April 1974Lorain County Court of Common Pleas enters final judgment completing RLCWA's formation.
- 1975/1982/19…Avon Lake's utility board signs successive wholesale contracts with RLCWA, Sheffield Village and the Eastern Transmission Line consortia.
- 2023RLCWA fails to sample corrosion-control indicators at the required frequency in July-December, a monitoring violation disclosed in its own CCR.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Buys finished water; no plant of its own. Supplier RLCWA's CCR says all three of its sources - Avon Lake Regional Water (Lake Erie), the New London Reservoir and Ashland's Jerome Fork wells - treat by filtration and disinfection, with fluoride added.
Water pressure
Not published for this district. Supplier RLCWA runs 19 pressure zones, 18 storage tanks and 14 pumping stations across 1,200+ miles of main (GRW).
What it costs
Medina County Sanitary Eng. sets this district's retail rate (fee schedule eff. 1/1/2026, not retrievable). Supplier RLCWA charges $9.14/1,000 gal in 2026.
Water quality & impurities8
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM (total trihalomethanes) Supplier RLCWA system average; range 18-79.4 ppb. Under the MCL but running close to it. | 59.1 ppb | 80 (annual avg) | 2025 |
| HAA5 (haloacetic acids) Supplier RLCWA system average; range 9.8-39.4 ppb, well under the MCL. | 31.5 ppb | 60 (annual avg) | 2025 |
| Lead (90th percentile) RLCWA 90th percentile; zero of 32 samples over the action level. | <1 ppb | 15 (action… | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) RLCWA 90th percentile, far below the action level. | 0.058 ppm | 1.3 (action… | 2025 |
| TTHM (total trihalomethanes) Prior RLCWA result, range 19.2-79.8 ppb; DBPs sit near 60 ppb year after year. | 59.8 ppb | 80 (annual avg) | 2023 |
| HAA5 (haloacetic acids) Prior RLCWA result, range 7-48.6 ppb. | 38 ppb | 60 (annual avg) | 2023 |
| PFBA (perfluorobutanoic acid) PFAS breakdown product detected at the reporting limit in RLCWA water. | 0.0051 ppb | no MCL (UCMR5) | 2023 |
| Lithium Unregulated; range 11.8-15.4 ppb in RLCWA water. | 13.6 ppb | no MCL (UCMR5) | 2023 |
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.
3 violations of any kind logged since 2020: 3 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).
Supply stress
Wholesale-only: no source of its own, so it inherits any RLCWA or Avon Lake supply problem. Chlorinated Lake Erie water piped far through rural mains keeps TTHM near 60 ppb against an 80 ppb MCL. RLCWA also missed required corrosion-control sampling in July-December 2023.
Sewers
Sanitary
Medina County Sanitary Engineering Department runs both this water district and county sanitary sewers (three divisions, roughly 50,000 customers), so it is not a water-only utility.
Storm
We found no county stormwater utility fee.
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Main supplier in 3 ZIP codes
Serves
Main water supplier in 3 ZIP codes
- 44233 · Hinckley Township and Hinckley100% of residents
- 44280 · Liverpool Township and Valley City98% of residents
- 44256 · Medina56% of residents
Also present in 10 more ZIP codes
- 44275 · Spencer Township and Spencer31% of residents
- 44212 · Brunswick22% of residents
- 44215 · Lafayette Township and Chippewa Lake16% of residents
- 44254 · Lodi13% of residents
- 44273 · Seville11% of residents
- 44253 · Litchfield Township and Litchfield5% of residents
- 44281 · Wadsworth3% of residents
- 44333 · Bath Township and Akron1% of residents
- 44321 · Copley Township and Akron0% of residents
- 44149 · Strongsville0% 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
Medina Co/northwest buys its water from Rural Lorain Co. Water A, which buys from Avon Lake City.
No other system is on record buying water from Medina Co/northwest.
What the records show about Medina Co/northwest
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Medina Co/northwest as owned by a local government. It has 16,845 service connections and serves 46,324 people.
EPA classes it as a community water system, one that serves the same residents all year.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
Medina Co/northwest 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 Medina Co/northwest since 2015.
EPA logs 3 violations of any kind since 2020: 3 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 Medina Co/northwest 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 2 ppb, in the period ending December 2023.
EPA has 9 sampling periods on file for Medina Co/northwest 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 Medina Co/northwest sent EPA, 17,455 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 0 |
| Not lead | 17,455 |
| All lines | 17,455 |
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 10 samples of the water entering the pipes of Medina Co/northwest in 2023 to 2026 and measured 29 PFAS.
PFOA and PFOS were not detected, against a federal limit of 4 ng/L each.
The highest PFAS result was PFBA 15.5 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 Medina Co/northwest's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 57.2 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 58.9 µg/L and the highest single sample was 99.4 µg/L, from 124 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 29.5 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 34 µg/L and the highest single sample was 46.6 µg/L, from 124 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 57.2 µg/L (2019) | 58.9 µg/L | 99.4 µg/L | 124 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 29.5 µg/L | 34 µg/L | 46.6 µg/L | 124 |
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 Medina Co/northwest 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 Medina Co/northwest 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 Medina Co/northwest 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, 2 of 4,041 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Medina Co/northwest tested positive (0.05%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 503 did. E. coli was never found in the 2 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 Medina Co/northwest 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 Medina Co/northwest buys.
Measured fluoride: 0.92 mg/L on average leaving the plants of Avon Lake City, which supplies Medina Co/northwest, 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 Medina Co/northwest, 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 Medina Co/northwest 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 Medina Co/northwest for a household using 5,000 gallons a month at $707 a year, about $59 a month.
The sewer bill in the same survey is $423 a year at 5,000 gallons a month.
| Use | Water, per year | Sewer, per year |
|---|---|---|
| 2,500 gallons a month | $426 | $423 |
| 5,000 gallons a month | $707 | $423 |
| 8,000 gallons a month | $1,043 | $423 |
The survey lists it as “Medina Co. Northwest”. 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 Medina Co/northwest comes from the utility's own map.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 63,650 residents are inside the boundary, 137% of the 46,324 people Medina Co/northwest 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 — 13 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 OH5201903 (EPA ECHO).
Medina Co/northwest's own pages: rlcwa.com, cms9files.revize.com, cms9files.revize.com
