Water system
Oakwood City
EPA ID OH5701915 · Montgomery County · 9,572 people served · owned by a local government
Oakwood City treats its own water from Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer (wells).
The system's record
The Ohio Department of Health's fluoridation report (CDC My Water's Fluoride) lists Oakwood City as buying its water from Dayton Public Water System; EPA's inventory shows its own sources as primary with Dayton Public Water System as an emergency connection. The two records may reflect a blend or a recent switch.
- Aquifer
- Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer
- Active wells
- 8
- Serves
- 9,572 people · Montgomery County
- EPA ID
- OH5701915
About this area's water
Did you know
- A city of about 9,600 people runs eight production wells, three water treatment plants, 44 miles of main, 352 hydrants and a 1.5-million-gallon tower entirely on its own.
- Oakwood's growth was partly a flood-safety pitch: after the 1913 Great Dayton Flood, ads sold Oakwood lots as sitting '275 feet higher than the intersection of Third and Main Streets.'
- The city softens its raw groundwater from about 27 grains per gallon of hardness down to about 12 - roughly 200 mg/L, still fairly hard tap water by national standards.
- Oakwood adds no fluoride at all; the roughly 0.24 ppm in the tap is whatever the aquifer happens to supply.
- Every 100 cubic feet of water billed carries a 10-cent Well Field Protection Fee - a line item on the bill for guarding the ground the city's eight wells draw from.
Source: storage.googleapis.comen.wikipedia.orgoakwoodohio.gov
History6
- 1908Oakwood incorporates as a city.
- 1913The Great Dayton Flood devastates downtown Dayton; advertising afterward touts Oakwood property as '275 feet higher than the intersection of Third and Main Streets,' a flood-safety pitch that drives…
- 2023Oakwood produces 403.274 million gallons from its eight wells and buys no water at all from Dayton - 100% of city demand met in-house.
- 2024Oakwood participates in the fifth round of the federal Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5); four PFAS compounds are detected at trace levels at both the Shafor and Springhouse plants.
- 2025Oakwood produces 449.267 million gallons from its wells - 99.07% of demand - and draws 4.215 million gallons from the City of Dayton connection over 16 days, its first reported purchase in recent…
- 2025City Council adopts Ordinance 5024 on December 1, setting the 2026 water, sewer, stormwater and refuse rates.
Source: storage.googleapis.comstorage.googleapis.comen.wikipedia.org
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Groundwater from eight production wells feeding three city-owned water treatment plants - Springhouse (120 Springhouse Rd) and Shafor (210 Shafor Blvd) are the two the CCR names and photographs, and the CCR states three exist. The wells draw from…
Source: storage.googleapis.comoakwoodohio.govoakwoodohio.gov
Water pressure
Not published. Neither the 2025 CCR, the water production and distribution page, nor the common water inquiries page gives a system psi or pressure-zone figure; the city only…
What it costs
$5.52 per 1,000 gallons
Set by Ordinance 5024, adopted December 1, 2025 (Appendix A - Public Services Rate Sheet), effective 2026. INSIDE-CITY WATER: $23.44/month minimum for a 5/8-inch or smaller meter…
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate Springhouse plant; Shafor 0.93 ppm, range 0.93-1.19. Fertilizer runoff and natural geology. | 1.19 ppm | 10 | 2025 |
| Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Down from 18.2 ppb in 2023. The 2025 CCR prints the range as '36.2 - 15.1,' which is internally inconsistent (the low… | 15.1 ppb | 80 | 2025 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Down from 7.2 ppb in 2023. The CCR prints the range as 'ND - 1.1,' inconsistent with the reported level found. | 5.4 ppb | 60 | 2025 |
| Dibromoacetic Acid Range ND-1.1. The CCR labels the unit 'ppm' while listing a limit of 60, which is the HAA5 group MCL in ppb; ppb is the… | 1.1 ppb | 60 (as HAA5… | 2025 |
| Total Chlorine Range 0.49-1.57 ppm. | 1.01 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2025 |
| Lead (90th percentile) 0 of 20 samples above the action level; down from 4.2 ppb in 2023. The service line inventory is viewable at the J.… | 3.6 ppb | 15 (AL) | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) 0 of 20 samples above the action level; down from 0.27 ppm in 2023. | 0.233 ppm | 1.3 (AL) | 2025 |
| Fluoride Shafor plant; Springhouse 0.23 ppm. Entirely natural - the CCR footnote states the city does not add fluoride… | 0.25 ppm | 4 | 2024 |
| Barium Shafor plant; Springhouse 0.0434 ppm. Down sharply from 0.143 ppm in the 2021 sampling. | 0.0773 ppm | 2 | 2024 |
| Nickel Springhouse plant; Shafor 2.4 ppb. Erosion of natural deposits; no federal MCL applies. | 3.2 ppb | no MCL | 2024 |
Source: storage.googleapis.comstorage.googleapis.com
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 3.6 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
Supply stress
Ohio EPA rates the aquifer under Oakwood's own wellfield as having MODERATE susceptibility to contamination, citing the sensitivity of the aquifer the wells sit in and several potential contaminant sources inside the protection zone; the city responds with an Ohio EPA-endorsed Source Water Assessment and Protection Program and charges a…
Source: storage.googleapis.comstorage.googleapis.comstorage.googleapis.com
Sewers
Sanitary
The City of Oakwood owns and operates the sanitary collection system but does not treat its own wastewater - about 70% of sanitary sewer operating cost is treatment purchased from Montgomery County and City of Dayton wastewater treatment plants. The whole operation, collection and treatment alike, is funded by user fees rather than…
Storm
A separate storm system, operated by the city's Engineering & Public Works Department: underground storm sewer pipes, roadway gutters, stormwater inlets, and open ditches, creeks and streams, run under a Stormwater Management Plan permitted through Ohio EPA.…
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
- 45419 · Oakwood and Dayton34% of residents
Also present in 1 more ZIP code
- 45409 · Dayton11% 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
Oakwood 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 Oakwood City.
What the records show about Oakwood City
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Oakwood City as owned by a local government. It has 3,655 service connections and serves 9,572 people.
EPA classes it as a community water system, one that serves the same residents all year.
EPA's record says it has substantially implemented source water protection under Ohio's program, dating the program from 2023. Its office telephone on EPA's record is 937-298-0600.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Oakwood City: chlorine disinfection, iron and manganese removal, and ion-exchange softening.
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 Oakwood City since 2015.
EPA logs no violations of any kind for Oakwood 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 Oakwood City was 3.6 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
The highest result on file is 8.2 ppb, in the period ending December 2019.
EPA has 9 sampling periods on file for Oakwood 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 Oakwood City sent EPA, 3,537 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 9 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 3 |
| Unknown material | 2,989 |
| Not lead | 536 |
| All lines | 3,537 |
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 Oakwood 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 PFBS 5.3 ng/L, PFPeA 5.3 ng/L, and PFHxA 3.8 ng/L.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 2 plants of Oakwood 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 2 plants of Oakwood City as sampled, most recently July 2026.
| 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 Oakwood City's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 8.3 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 14.9 µg/L and the highest single sample was 23.6 µg/L, from 16 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 0.8 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 4.4 µg/L and the highest single sample was 5.1 µg/L, from 16 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 8.3 µg/L (2019) | 14.9 µg/L | 23.6 µg/L | 16 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 0.8 µg/L | 4.4 µg/L | 5.1 µg/L | 16 |
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 16 samples was 1.7 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2015; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 1.5 mg/L. No sample was over the limit of 10 mg/L. Nitrate above 10 is unsafe for infants.
Arsenic was not detected in 6 samples (limit 10 µg/L).
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 16 | 1.7 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 6 | 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 6 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 6 | 0 of 6 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 6 | 0 of 6 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 6 | 0 of 6 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 6 | 0 of 6 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 6 | 0 of 6 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 6 | 0 of 6 | 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 8 of the nine herbicides and metals it checked. Detected: cadmium in 1 of 6 samples, highest 0.78 µg/L (limit 5); barium in 6 of 6 samples, highest 99.6 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine in 4 samples, alachlor in 4 samples, chromium in 6 samples, mercury in 6 samples, selenium in 6 samples, thallium in 6 samples.
| Substance | Kind | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atrazine | Farm chemical | 3 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Alachlor | Farm chemical | 2 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Chromium | Metal | 100 µg/L | 6 | 0 of 6 | not detected | 0 |
| Cadmium | Metal | 5 µg/L | 6 | 1 of 6 | 0.78 µg/L | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 6 | 6 of 6 | 99.6 µg/L | 0 |
| Mercury | Metal | 2 µg/L | 6 | 0 of 6 | not detected | 0 |
| Selenium | Metal | 50 µg/L | 6 | 0 of 6 | not detected | 0 |
| Thallium | Metal | 2 µg/L | 6 | 0 of 6 | 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, 0 of 955 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Oakwood City tested positive (0%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 122 did. E. coli was never found in the 840 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 Oakwood City buys its water from Dayton Public Water System, a system that adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists no fluoridation step at Oakwood City.
Measured fluoride: every sample at the plant's entry points in 2018 was below the 0.2 mg/L reporting limit; detected samples in earlier years ran at 0.22 mg/L across 6 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 Oakwood 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.
How well the service area is mapped
EPA estimated the service area of Oakwood 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 6,822 residents are inside the boundary, 71% of the 9,572 people Oakwood 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 — 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
EPA's own record for this system: Enforcement and Compliance History report for OH5701915 (EPA ECHO).
Oakwood City's own pages: storage.googleapis.com, mcohio.org
Notable facts: storage.googleapis.com, en.wikipedia.org, oakwoodohio.gov, storage.googleapis.com
History: storage.googleapis.com, storage.googleapis.com, en.wikipedia.org, storage.googleapis.com
Water quality: storage.googleapis.com, storage.googleapis.com
Water pressure: storage.googleapis.com, oakwoodohio.gov
Rates: storage.googleapis.com, oakwoodohio.gov
Sewers: oakwoodohio.gov, oakwoodohio.gov, oakwoodohio.gov, storage.googleapis.com
Treatment: storage.googleapis.com, oakwoodohio.gov, oakwoodohio.gov
Supply stress: storage.googleapis.com, storage.googleapis.com, storage.googleapis.com
