Water system
Germantown City
EPA ID OH5701012 · Montgomery County · 5,547 people served · owned by a local government
Germantown City treats its own water from Groundwater wells (4 wells).
The system's record
- Active wells
- 4
- Serves
- 5,547 people · Montgomery County
- EPA ID
- OH5701012
About this area's water
Did you know
- Germantown's four wells sit in Kercher Park, and the water table they tap stands only 8.5 to 11 feet below the ground surface — shallow enough that Ohio EPA lists the shallowness itself as a reason the supply is rated…
- In Ohio's 2023 statewide PFAS testing, none of the six PFAS compounds sampled were detected in Germantown's finished drinking water.
- The city's newest water tower was deliberately built smaller than the one it replaced — 500,000 gallons instead of 750,000 — because a taller column of water would have pushed pressure too high for downtown and the…
- The downtown alley layout, the Gunckel Town Plan laid out by founder Philip Gunckel in 1814, has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976.
- The Mudlick Distillery, established in Germantown in 1847, turned out 30 barrels of whiskey a day and was considered the largest in the country for many years.
History6
- 1804Settled by German-speaking families from Berks County, Pennsylvania.
- 1814Philip Gunckel laid out the original town plan, including the distinctive wagon-wheel alley layout of the downtown.
- 1833Germantown incorporated; it operates as a city today.
- 1976The Gunckel Town Plan Historic District, with much of its 19th and early 20th century building stock intact, placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
- 1981Weaver Road water storage standpipe built — an upper tank of 270,000 gallons over a lower tank of 675,000 gallons, 945,000 gallons in all.
- 1997City developed a source water protection plan mapping Germantown's source water protection area.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Four production wells in Kercher Park, on the south side of the city, draw from sand-and-gravel units of the Great Miami (Buried Miami) Valley Aquifer System underlying Twin Creek. Depth to ground water in these wells is only 8.5 to 11 feet — that is the depth of the water table, not the depth of…
Source: germantown.oh.usgermantown.oh.us
Water pressure
No psi figures are published, but Ohio EPA's 2020 Limited Environmental Review describes the distribution system as two pressure zones: an upper zone serving much of the city, now…
Source: germantown.oh.us
What it costs
Germantown publishes no water or sewer rate schedule. The Utilities & Streets page carries only bill-pay links, utility application and termination forms, backflow test forms and…
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate Single sample, no range reported. About a third of the limit; the source is flagged as susceptible to nitrate because… | 3.29 ppm | 10 | 2025 |
| Fluoride Range 0.38-1.33 ppm; naturally occurring plus water additive. | 1.14 ppm | 4 | 2025 |
| Barium Range 0.097-0.097 ppm. Naturally occurring, well below the limit. | 0.097 ppm | 2 | 2024 |
| Total Chlorine Range 0.50-0.80 ppm; disinfectant residual. | 0.63 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2025 |
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 1.8-9.1 ppb — about a ninth of the limit, typical of a groundwater source. | 9.1 ppb | 80 | 2025 |
| Lead Zero of 20 samples exceeded the action level. | 0.80 (90th… ppb | 15 (Action… | 2025 |
| Copper Zero of 20 samples exceeded the action level. | 0.132 (90th… ppm | 1.3 (Action… | 2025 |
| Chloroform Range 0.4-3.4 ppb; chlorination byproduct, no federal standard. | 3.4 ppb | unregulated | 2025 |
| Bromodichloromethane Range 0.8-2.8 ppb; chlorination byproduct. | 2.8 ppb | unregulated | 2025 |
| Dibromochloromethane Range 1.0-2.3 ppb; chlorination byproduct. | 2.3 ppb | unregulated | 2025 |
Source: germantown.oh.us
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0.8 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).
Projects & plans2
Recent and current work
- Water Tower and Telemetry (SCADA) Replacement · $2.3 million · 2020
Financed by an Ohio EPA Water Supply Revolving Loan Account loan (FS390387) at the 1% hardship interest rate over 30 years, saving the city roughly $672,000… - Water Service Line Material Inventory · 2024 · completed
Published under the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions and linked from both the 2025 water quality report and the Utilities & Streets page, alongside a public…
Supply stress
Ohio EPA's 2003 susceptibility analysis rates Germantown's source as highly susceptible to contamination for four stated reasons: the shallowness of the water table (ground water stands only 8.5 to 11 feet down in the production wells), the lack of any low-permeability layer overlying the sand and gravel, numerous potential contaminant…
Source: germantown.oh.usgermantown.oh.us
Sewers
Sanitary
The city's Water & Sanitary Sewer division, under the Director of Public Service, bills water and sewer together on a single utility bill that also carries trash and a separate 'sewer & water debt' charge. No wastewater treatment plant name, design capacity, receiving stream, or CSO/consent-decree status is published on the city's…
Storm
A separate Street & Storm Sewer division is listed among the city's departments. No stormwater utility fee, drainage plan, or documented flooding problem was found.
Source: germantown.oh.usgermantown.oh.us
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
- 45327 · Germantown59% 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
Germantown City does not buy water from another system on record; it treats its own source water.
No other system is on record buying water from Germantown City.
What the records show about Germantown City
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Germantown City as owned by a local government. It has 2,357 service connections and serves 5,547 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 937-855-7255.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Germantown City: chlorine disinfection and fluoridation.
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 Germantown City since 2015.
EPA logs 1 violation of any kind 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).
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 Germantown City was 0.8 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
The highest result on file is 1.7 ppb, in the period ending December 2019.
EPA has 9 sampling periods on file for Germantown City since 2016, the first ending in 2016; 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 Germantown City sent EPA, 2,360 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 0 |
| Not lead | 2,360 |
| All lines | 2,360 |
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 3 samples of the water entering the pipes of Germantown City in 2023 and measured 29 PFAS. No PFAS was detected, PFOA and PFOS (federal limit 4 ng/L each) among them.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Germantown City (latest sample September 2020). Not one of the six PFAS tested (PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS) was detected.
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 Germantown City's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 9.6 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 9.6 µg/L and the highest single sample was 10.3 µg/L, from 15 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 3.4 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 4.1 µg/L and the highest single sample was 4.9 µg/L, from 15 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 9.6 µg/L (2019) | 9.6 µg/L | 10.3 µg/L | 15 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 3.4 µg/L | 4.1 µg/L | 4.9 µg/L | 15 |
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
Nitrate: the highest of 8 samples was 3.93 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2014; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 2.1 mg/L. No sample was over the limit of 10 mg/L. Nitrate above 10 is unsafe for infants.
Arsenic was not detected in 3 samples (limit 10 µg/L).
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 8 | 3.93 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 3 | 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.
Solvents and fuels
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 3 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | 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.
Farm chemicals and metals
EPA's file holds results for all nine herbicides and metals it checked. Detected: barium in 2 of 3 samples, highest 110 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine in 5 samples, alachlor in 5 samples, 2,4-D in 3 samples, chromium in 3 samples, cadmium in 3 samples, mercury in 3 samples, selenium in 3 samples, thallium in 3 samples.
| Substance | Kind | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atrazine | Farm chemical | 3 µg/L | 5 | 0 of 5 | not detected | 0 |
| Alachlor | Farm chemical | 2 µg/L | 5 | 0 of 5 | not detected | 0 |
| 2,4-D | Farm chemical | 70 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Chromium | Metal | 100 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Cadmium | Metal | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 3 | 2 of 3 | 110 µg/L | 0 |
| Mercury | Metal | 2 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Selenium | Metal | 50 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Thallium | Metal | 2 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | 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.
Bacteria in the pipes
From 2012 to 2019, 1 of 576 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Germantown City tested positive (0.17%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 72 did. E. coli was never found in the 580 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 Germantown City adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at Germantown City.
Measured fluoride: 0.92 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2018 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.92 to 0.97 mg/L across 3 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 2 UCMR 5 samples at Germantown City, 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.
Water and sewer bills
Ohio EPA's 2023 rate survey puts the water bill at Germantown City for a household using 5,000 gallons a month at $432 a year, about $36 a month.
The sewer bill in the same survey is $631 a year at 5,000 gallons a month.
| Use | Water, per year | Sewer, per year |
|---|---|---|
| 2,500 gallons a month | $284 | $349 |
| 5,000 gallons a month | $432 | $631 |
| 8,000 gallons a month | $655 | $970 |
The survey lists it as “Germantown”. 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
EPA estimated the service area of Germantown 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 5,538 residents are inside the boundary, 100% of the 5,547 people Germantown 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 OH5701012 (EPA ECHO).
Notable facts: germantown.oh.us, germantown.oh.us, en.wikipedia.org
History: en.wikipedia.org, germantown.oh.us, germantown.oh.us
Water quality: germantown.oh.us
Water pressure: germantown.oh.us
Capital projects: germantown.oh.us, germantown.oh.us, germantown.oh.us
Rates: germantown.oh.us, germantown.oh.us, germantown.oh.us
Sewers: germantown.oh.us, germantown.oh.us
Treatment: germantown.oh.us, germantown.oh.us
Supply stress: germantown.oh.us, germantown.oh.us