Water system
Mt Gilead Village
EPA ID OH5900712 · Morrow County · 3,503 people served · owned by a local government
Mt Gilead Village treats its own water from Groundwater wells (5 wells).
The system's record
- Active wells
- 5
- Serves
- 3,503 people · Morrow County
- EPA ID
- OH5900712
About this area's water
Did you know
- Mount Gilead softens its water by ion exchange, and the fingerprint shows up in the plant's own lab data: sodium averaged 158 mg/L in 2025 and peaked at 202 mg/L, while finished hardness averaged 136 mg/L.
- The 2025 lead and copper round put the 90th-percentile lead result at 12.64 ppb, just under the 15 ppb action level, with 2 of 20 sampled homes above the action level.
- The water plant was banned from selling bulk water after hydrant use was discovered, so the Phase 1 project includes a new bulk water fill station with a keypad, receipt printer and flow meter to sell it properly.
- The village's sewage treatment plant generates its own electricity from a solar array and publishes the output live on the web.
- Searching for 'Mt. Gilead' online is a trap: mtgilead.org belongs to a Christian camp and conference center in Sebastopol, California, not the Morrow County village, whose site is mountgilead.net.
History6
- 1817Settlement began at the site, listed under the name Whetsom though generally called Youngstown, per the Village of Mount Gilead's own local-history page.
- 1832The Ohio legislature changed the name to Mount Gilead; the village was incorporated in 1839.
- 1848Morrow County was formed and Mount Gilead became the county seat; the village's population was about 400.
- 2012Ohio EPA completed a Source Water Susceptibility Analysis for the Mt. Gilead well field, rating its susceptibility to contamination as moderate.
- 2025Council approved raising the base water rate $5 per year for 2026, 2027 and 2028 (March), and in the same month the village nominated its water treatment plant Phase 1 project for an Ohio EPA Water…
- 2025Bid package for the WTP Improvements Phase 1 project advertised September 19 and bids opened November 12, with an 18-month construction period scheduled to run January 2026 to July 2027.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Five village-owned wells in the north-central part of town, just east of State Route 61 with an access drive at 352 E. Union Street, draw from the Johnstown Complex sand-and-gravel aquifer (more than 20 feet to water, under roughly 50 feet of glacial till). Water is treated at the village's own…
Source: mountgilead.netmountgilead.net
Water pressure
Not published. Neither the 2025 CCR nor the GPD Group WTP improvements presentation states a typical distribution pressure; the presentation only notes that a new plant pressure…
Source: mountgilead.netmountgilead.net
What it costs
$6.36 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $43 a month for water.
Codified Ordinance 911.01 (last amended by Ord. 1674, passed 7-16-12) sets a minimum charge of $20.72 per month for the first 300 cubic feet and $4.76 per 100 cubic feet above…
Source: mountgilead.netmorrowcountysentinel.commorrowcountysentinel.com
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (90th percentile) 2 of 20 sampled homes exceeded the 15 ppb lead action level, though the 90th percentile stayed below it. | 12.64 ppb | 15 (action… | 2025 |
| Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range of detections 19.0-36.9 ppb. | 27.95 ppb | 80 | 2025 |
| Haloacetic acids (HAA5) Range 0-5.9 ppb. | 2.95 ppb | 60 | 2025 |
| Arsenic Range 4.0-5.0 ppb; the CCR carries the standard advisory that the water meets the arsenic standard but does contain low… | 4.25 ppb | 10 | 2025 |
| Nitrate | 0.36 mg/L | 10 | 2025 |
| Total chlorine Range 1.08-1.95 ppm. | 1.6 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) 0 of 20 samples above the action level. | 0.514 ppm | 1.3 (action… | 2025 |
| Barium | 0.0504 mg/L | 2 | 2024 |
| Fluoride | 0.9 mg/L | 4 | 2024 |
| Beryllium | 0.06 ppb | 4 | 2024 |
Source: mountgilead.net
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 12.6 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 & plans3
Recent and current work
- Mt. Gilead WTP Improvements, Phase 1 - construction · $6.3 million · 2026 · under construction
GPD Group engineer's estimate of probable construction cost, including a $400,000 contingency that may not be used. Scope: three new 0.5 MGD iron filters… - Phase 1 construction management, observation and technical assistance · $450,000 · 2026 · under construction
Separate from the construction estimate, per the GPD Group funding slide.
Source: mountgilead.netmorrowcountysentinel.com
Planned or needed
- Mt. Gilead WTP Improvements, Phase 2 · planned
Scope named in the GPD presentation: new motor control center, new generator, new HVAC and miscellaneous domestic plumbing, and a new aerator. No cost estimate…
Source: mountgilead.net
Supply stress
Groundwater from a five-well field in the Johnstown Complex sand-and-gravel aquifer. Ohio EPA's April 2012 susceptibility analysis rates the source moderately susceptible: more than 20 feet of depth to water and roughly 50 feet of glacial till give some protection, but significant potential contaminant sources exist within the protection…
Source: mountgilead.netmountgilead.net
Sewers
Sanitary
The village owns and operates its own sanitary sewer system and sewage treatment plant. The plant runs partly on an on-site solar array, which the village describes as a 650 kW array with a public real-time generation dashboard, and uses ultraviolet disinfection: in 2025 council authorized an emergency payment of $20,125 to Trojan Tech…
Storm
The village maintains storm sewers - the water ordinance requires below-grade meter pits to drain to a storm sewer where practical, and council minutes in 2025 record storm drain and sewer issues resolved after heavy rainfall - but no storm sewer system…
Source: mountgilead.netmorrowcountysentinel.commountgilead.net
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
- 43338 · Mount Gilead29% 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
Mt Gilead Village does not buy water from another system on record; it treats its own source water.
No other system is on record buying water from Mt Gilead Village.
What the records show about Mt Gilead Village
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Mt Gilead Village as owned by a local government. It has 1,602 service connections and serves 3,503 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 419-569-2537.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Mt Gilead Village: aeration, corrosion control, chlorine disinfection, ion-exchange softening, 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 Mt Gilead Village 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 Mt Gilead Village was 12.6 ppb, under the current 15 ppb action level but above the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
EPA has 9 sampling periods on file for Mt Gilead Village since 2016, the first ending in 2016; 1 of the 9 periods went above 10 ppb.
Every water system has to inventory its service lines, the pipes from the main to each building. In the inventory Mt Gilead Village sent EPA, 1,295 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 16 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 17 |
| Unknown material | 775 |
| Not lead | 487 |
| All lines | 1,295 |
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 2 samples of the water entering the pipes of Mt Gilead Village in 2025 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 Mt Gilead Village (latest sample October 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 Mt Gilead Village's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 23.1 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 52.8 µg/L and the highest single sample was 72.6 µg/L, from 18 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 8.6 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 11.6 µg/L and the highest single sample was 17.6 µg/L, from 18 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 23.1 µg/L (2019) | 52.8 µg/L | 72.6 µg/L | 18 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 8.6 µg/L | 11.6 µg/L | 17.6 µg/L | 18 |
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 7 samples was 0.42 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2012; in 2019, the last year sampled, nitrate was not detected. No sample was over the limit of 10 mg/L. Nitrate above 10 is unsafe for infants.
Arsenic: the highest of 34 samples was 8.1 µg/L (limit 10); detections averaged 6.2; none over the limit.
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 7 | 0.42 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 34 | 8.1 µg/L | 10 µg/L | 0 |
| Combined radium | 1 | 2.4 pCi/L | 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.
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 8 of the nine herbicides and metals it checked. Detected: barium in 2 of 3 samples, highest 68.9 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine in 2 samples, alachlor in 2 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 | 2 | 0 of 2 | not detected | 0 |
| Alachlor | Farm chemical | 2 µg/L | 2 | 0 of 2 | 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 | 68.9 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, 0 of 387 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Mt Gilead Village tested positive (0%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 48 did.
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 Mt Gilead Village has fluoride from natural sources at the recommended level for preventing tooth decay. The level it reports is 0.88 mg/L.
EPA's treatment table lists no fluoridation step at Mt Gilead Village.
Measured fluoride: 0.82 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2018 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.82 to 0.93 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 found in 2 of 2 UCMR 5 samples at Mt Gilead Village, highest 37 µg/L; detections averaged 29, last sampled in 2025.
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 Mt Gilead Village 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 3,063 residents are inside the boundary, 87% of the 3,503 people Mt Gilead Village 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 OH5900712 (EPA ECHO).
Notable facts: mountgilead.net, mountgilead.net, mountgilead.net, mtgilead.org
History: mountgilead.net, mountgilead.net, mountgilead.net, morrowcountysentinel.com
Water quality: mountgilead.net
Planned work: mountgilead.net
Water pressure: mountgilead.net, mountgilead.net
Capital projects: mountgilead.net, morrowcountysentinel.com
Rates: mountgilead.net, morrowcountysentinel.com, morrowcountysentinel.com
Sewers: mountgilead.net, morrowcountysentinel.com, mountgilead.net
Treatment: mountgilead.net, mountgilead.net
Supply stress: mountgilead.net, mountgilead.net
