Water system
Switzerland of Ohio Water
EPA ID OH5600503 · Monroe County · 2,500 people served
Switzerland of Ohio Water buys its water from Barnesville.
The system's record
- Water bodies
- Barnesville Reservoir #1, Barnesville Reservoir #2, Slope Creek Reservoir
- Raw intakes
- Barnesville Reservoir#1
Barnesville Reservoir#2
Barnesville Slope Creek - Serves
- 6,500 people · Belmont County
- EPA ID
- OH0700011
All three are village-owned impoundments; Slope Creek Reservoir dams Slope Creek (a South Fork Captina Creek tributary) and is filled by local drainage/unnamed tributaries, not a named river.
About this area's water Barnesville
Did you know
- Barnesville's three reservoirs hold an estimated 840 million usable gallons of raw water — what Ohio EPA calls 2.6 years of uninterrupted supply — while the village's finished-water tanks hold only about 1.2 days' worth.
- The village doesn't just serve itself: it wholesales water at $5.70 per 1,000 gallons to the Switzerland of Ohio Water District and the Village of Quaker City, satellite systems that push the population served to…
- Barnesville has sold bulk raw water straight out of Slope Creek Reservoir for hydraulic fracturing when water levels allow; Ohio EPA describes it as a continuing source of village revenue that doesn't count against…
- The two reservoirs nearest town bloom with algae while the distant one doesn't, so the village budgeted $5.58 million to rebuild a five-mile main and pump station and pump the good water instead — the old…
- In December 2025 the village had to send a special public notice after missing the federal deadline to tell residents whether their water arrives through a lead, galvanized or unknown-material service line.
Source: barnesvilleohio.combarnesvilleohio.combarnesvilleohio.com
History6
- 1808Barnesville is laid out in November 1808 by first settler James Barnes; the village is incorporated in 1835.
- 1964The 93-acre Slope Creek Reservoir (Reservoir #3), about five miles south of the village, is created for flood control and water supply; it holds roughly 650 million usable gallons.
- 2007Reservoir #2 (13 acres, ~30 million usable gallons, on County Road 122) is added as a village water source.
- 2016The village adopts a Source Water Protection Plan covering Reservoirs #1 and #2 and Slope Creek Reservoir. (Ohio treats all surface water as highly susceptible to contamination as a matter of policy…
- 2021Ohio EPA issues a preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (June 24, 2021) for the Barnesville 16-inch Raw Water Transmission Main, WSRLA loan FS390135-0010, with the 0% Harmful Algal Bloom…
- 2025The village misses the July 1, 2025 federal deadline to deliver annual notifications to consumers with lead, galvanized-requiring-replacement, or unknown-status service lines. It reported the…
Source: en.wikipedia.orgbarnesvilleohio.combarnesvilleohio.com
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Surface water from Reservoir #1 (Township Road 25), Reservoir #2 (County Road 122) and Slope Creek Reservoir (Somerset Township) is dosed with potassium permanganate, polymers and chlorine to promote coagulation and contaminant removal ahead of filtration; activated carbon gives the filtered water…
Source: barnesvilleohio.combarnesvilleohio.com
Water pressure
No distribution pressures or pressure zones are published. Ohio EPA records that Reservoirs #1 and #2 send water to the plant by gravity, while Slope Creek Reservoir water is…
Source: barnesvilleohio.com
What it costs
$6.65 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $38 a month for water.
Inside-village schedule, Barnesville Water Department Rates and Fees effective May 9, 2022 (identical figures also appear on tables headed 'effective with July 2021 bills'): $9.00…
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fluoride Range 0.70-1.13; no violation. Water additive plus erosion of natural deposits. | 0.98 ppm | 4 (MCL) | 2025 |
| Nitrate Range <0.10-0.79; no violation. Fertilizer runoff, septic leaching. | 0.79 ppm | 10 (MCL) | 2025 |
| Barium No violation. | 0.018 ppm | 2 (MCL) | 2025 |
| Lead (90th percentile) 0 of 20 samples exceeded the action level. | 4.99 ppb | 15 (AL) | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) 0 of 20 samples exceeded the action level. | 0.037 ppm | 1.3 (AL) | 2025 |
| Turbidity Range 0.04-0.39; lowest monthly compliance was 97.7% of samples meeting the standard. No violation. | 0.39 (max) NTU | TT: 0.3 NTU in… | 2025 |
| Chlorine Range 0.7-1.1. Disinfectant residual. | 0.89 (max) ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2025 |
| TTHM (total trihalomethanes) Range 56.0-69.3; chlorination byproduct, no violation. | 69.3 ppb | 80 (MCL) | 2025 |
| HAA5 (haloacetic acids) Range 18.3-26.9; chlorination byproduct, no violation. | 26.9 ppb | 60 (MCL) | 2025 |
| Nickel (unregulated) Unregulated contaminant monitoring; no MCL. | 6.48 ppb | none established | 2025 |
Source: barnesvilleohio.com
EPA compliance record · Switzerland of Ohio Water
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 2.6 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
EPA compliance record · Barnesville (treats the water)
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 5 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
1 violation of any kind logged since 2020, 1 of them paperwork (monitoring, reporting, public notice or consumer report).
Projects & plans4
Recent and current work
- Barnesville 16-inch Raw Water Transmission Main and pump station replacement · $5.6 million · 2021-2023
Replaces 25,000 linear feet of 12-inch asbestos-cement raw water main with 16-inch PVC on a new alignment mostly along roads, plus a new prefabricated pump… - Service line inventory · 2025 · completed
Inventory of service line materials maintained under the federal Lead and Copper Rule; the CCR directs residents to view it at the Barnesville Water Office…
Source: barnesvilleohio.combarnesvilleohio.com
Planned or needed
- Lead / galvanized / unknown service line notification correction · 2025 · completed
After failing to certify delivery of the July 1, 2025 annual notifications, the village provided the required notices to affected consumers on December 15… - Possible extension to Fairview and Hendrysburg · proposed
Ohio EPA's 2021 assessment notes these two unincorporated communities may connect to the Barnesville system when construction becomes affordable, adding…
Supply stress
All three sources are village-owned surface impoundments. Ohio treats every surface water source as highly susceptible to contamination; the CCR lists agricultural runoff, oil and gas wells, and road crossings as the potential contaminant sources in the protection areas. The real operating pressure is algae: Reservoirs #1 and #2…
Sewers
Sanitary
The Village of Barnesville Water & Sewer Department runs the sanitary sewer and bills it alongside water: $14.25 minimum for 0-1,000 gal, $28.50 at 2,000, then $10.90 per 1,000 above 2,000 up to 40,000 and $10.50 above that; a 5,000-gallon month is $61.20. Sewer taps are $500 inside or outside the corporation. Ohio EPA's 2021 assessment…
Storm
not published
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Present in 2 ZIP codes
Serves
Main water supplier in 2 ZIP codes
- 43716 · Sunsbury Township and Beallsville22% of residents
- 43747 · Malaga Township and Jerusalem20% 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
Switzerland of Ohio Water buys its water from Barnesville.
No other system is on record buying water from Switzerland of Ohio Water.
On the map
Show this system's territory on the map — 2 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