Water system
Medina Co/sharon-wadsworth
EPA ID OH5202003 · Medina County · 566 people served
Medina Co/sharon-wadsworth buys its water from Wadsworth City.
The system's record
- Aquifer
- Chippewa Creek buried-valley aquifer / Mississippian sandstone bedrock aquifer
- Active wells
- 12
- Serves
- 24,356 people · Medina County
- EPA ID
- OH5201712
City owns 12 wells: deep Mississippian-age sandstone bedrock wells and shallow sand-and-gravel wells in the glacial buried-valley (Chippewa Creek) aquifer.
About this area's water Wadsworth City
Did you know
- Part of Wadsworth's water comes from a well field entirely outside Medina County - in Chippewa Township, Wayne County, about 6.5 miles away - drilled into the Chippewa Creek buried-valley aquifer, which can yield…
- Getting that well field online took a fight: a citizens' group called Save Our Water challenged the project, and the city settled with monitoring requirements attached before the well could proceed.
- The city mixes deep sandstone bedrock wells with shallow glacial buried-valley wells specifically so water quality stays consistent through the seasons.
- Wadsworth's wastewater plant discharges into the River Styx - a real creek in Medina County.
- The plant's 50-year-old floating digester cover corroded out of shape and jammed inside the tank; before picking a $2.3 million replacement, Wadsworth staff drove to Kent to see its ballast-type cover and to Lakewood to…
History6
- 1814Wadsworth founded (March 1, 1814), named for Gen. Elijah Wadsworth, Revolutionary War/War of 1812 officer and the largest landowner in what became Medina County.
- 1876Incorporated as a village (January 1, 1876).
- 1931Became a city (January 1, 1931).
- 1953City wastewater treatment plant originally constructed.
- 1974-1975Current Water Treatment Plant at 120 Maple St. built in 1974 and put into service in 1975, designed for 3 MGD.
- 1977Main primary anaerobic digester (60 ft diameter) built at the WWTP; rehabilitated in 2004 and 2008-2009.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
All groundwater from 12 city wells: 7 deep sandstone bedrock wells (~250 ft) in the southeast corner of the city between Broad Street and Johnson Road, 4 shallow sand-and-gravel wells (~75 ft) in the valley southwest of the city near the soccer fields and airport, and 1 shallow sand-and-gravel well…
Source: wadsworthcity.comwadsworthcity.com
Water pressure
Not published - no psi or pressure-zone figures appear on the city's water pages or in the 2023 CCR. The only indirect evidence is a capital project named the 'Low Side Water…
What it costs
$9.63 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $42 a month for water.
From the city's '2026 Water Rate Schedule,' effective February 1, 2026 (posted as an image on wadsworthcity.com/192). Rates are quoted PER GALLON in usage blocks. Inside city…
Source: wadsworthcity.comwadsworthcity.comdam.assets.ohio.gov
Water quality & impurities7
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fluoride Range 0.77-1.20; added to promote strong teeth. | 1.06 ppm | 4.0 (MCL) | 2023 |
| Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 22.8-36.7; chlorination by-product and the highest detection relative to its limit in Wadsworth's table. | 36.7 ppb | 80 (MCL) | 2023 |
| Haloacetic acids (HAA5) Range 6.5-7.2. | 7.2 ppb | 60 (MCL) | 2023 |
| Total chlorine residual Range 0.68-0.92. | 0.81 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2023 |
| Barium Erosion of natural deposits; drilling/metal refinery discharge. | 0.013 ppm | 2 (MCL) | 2021 |
| Lead (90th percentile) 0 of 30 homes above the action level. | <2 ppb | 15 (action… | 2023 |
| Copper (90th percentile) 0 of 30 homes above the action level. | 0.094 ppm | 1.3 (action… | 2023 |
Source: wadsworthcity.com
EPA compliance record · Medina Co/sharon-wadsworth
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 1.5 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
3 violations of any kind logged since 2020, 3 of them paperwork (monitoring, reporting, public notice or consumer report).
EPA compliance record · Wadsworth 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.
Projects & plans12
Recent and current work
- Replacement of Primary Digester Cover (WWTP) · $2.3 million · 2026-2027 · under construction
Ohio EPA WPCLF loan CS390948-0012 at 3.24% over 20 years; Limited Environmental Review/FNSI issued June 5, 2026. Replaces the stuck 50-year-old steel-truss… - Lead Service Line Verification, Phase I · $350,000 · 2025 · under construction
Awarded to Petty Farms, starting around late October 2025 with roughly three months' duration; funded by an awarded WSRLA loan. Pursuant to Ohio EPA findings… - Bulk Water Fill Station and adjoining water looping · 2025-2026 · under construction
Awarded to Cavanaugh Building Corporation; site construction about $150,000, the fill station unit about $77,000, plus roughly $300,000 for the adjoining water… - Water Meter Improvement Project (endpoint replacement) · 2025 · under construction
Roughly 5,000 meter endpoints replaced by October 2025 (goal had been 1,000/month). Mis-assigned endpoints and a misplaced decimal produced wildly wrong reads… - Tolbert Street Improvement Project · 2025
Reported about 85% complete in October 2025 with less than a month of work left; no later status or cost found in published minutes.
Source: wadsworthcity.comdam.assets.ohio.gov
Planned or needed
- Lead Service Line Verification, Phase II · $1.2 million · 2026 · planned
Much larger second verification phase proposed for 2026, per Ohio EPA findings. - Low Side Water Tower (design) · $530,000 · 2025-2026 · planned
Design RFQ issued October 2025; about $530,000 budgeted for the design consultant, though the line item likely also covers inspection services, so the design… - Good/High waterline design (WSRLA loan application) · $411,000 · 2026 · planned
WSRLA loan application for 2026 design costs of the split Good Street and High Street waterline projects; acknowledged by Ohio EPA as of October 2025. - West Good Street waterline replacement, Phase I · $1.2 million · 2026-2027 · proposed
About 2,300 linear feet, upsizing 6-inch to 8-inch main. Not yet approved by Council as of October 2025. - High Street waterline replacement · $4.1 million · 2027-2028 · proposed
About 5,500 linear feet of various-sized replacements moving to 12-inch main. Not yet approved by Council as of October 2025. - General Water Looping (Airport Drive / Rittman Road) · $1.7 million · unknown · proposed
3,000 linear feet of 8-inch main to eliminate a dead-end system that causes water quality problems and to improve interconnection and fire flows; out for… - 2025 SSO Reduction Project (design) · $185,000 · 2025-2026 · planned
WPCLF loan application for design; direct inflow treatments in SSO areas 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 plus line repairs in areas 5, 7 and 10, under a 15-year Ohio EPA…
Source: wadsworthcity.com
Supply stress
Not a scarcity story, but not stress-free either. Supply is entirely local groundwater from 12 wells, and the city deliberately blends deep sandstone bedrock wells with shallow buried-valley wells to hold quality steady year-round. Peak-demand capacity drove development of the Chippewa Creek well field 6.5 miles away in Wayne County…
Sewers
Sanitary
City-owned wastewater treatment plant at 1015 Airport Dr., originally constructed in 1953 and rated Class IV, with an average daily design capacity of 5 MGD, peak hydraulic capacity of 10 MGD and an actual average daily flow of about 3.8 MGD. Treatment train: mechanical screening, vortex grit removal, primary clarification, aeration…
Storm
The city runs a separate stormwater utility - Fund 602, Storm Water Operating Fund, appears as its own enterprise fund in the 2026 budget - alongside an NPDES stormwater program. No stormwater fee amount or specific flooding problem was found in the sources…
Source: wadsworthcity.comdam.assets.ohio.govwadsworthcity.com
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Present in 1 ZIP code
Serves
No ZIP code has Medina Co/sharon-wadsworth on record as its main water supplier.
Also present in 1 more ZIP code
- 44281 · Wadsworth0% 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/sharon-wadsworth buys its water from Wadsworth City.
No other system is on record buying water from Medina Co/sharon-wadsworth.
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