Water system

Dresden

EPA ID OH6000212 · Muskingum County · 2,000 people served

Groundwater wells (3 wells)
Groundwater

Dresden treats its own water from Groundwater wells (3 wells).

The system's record

Groundwater wells (3 wells)
Groundwater
Wells: EPA lists 3 active wells.
Well 1Well 2Well 3
Active wells
3
Serves
2,000 people · Muskingum County
EPA ID
OH6000212

About this area's water

Did you know
  • Dresden sits on or near the site of Wakatomika, a Shawnee village burned in 1774 during Lord Dunmore's War.
  • A 1,000-foot suspension bridge built in 1852 across the Muskingum River at Dresden was reportedly the third suspension bridge ever built in the United States; it was destroyed in the Great Flood of 1913.
  • Federal drinking-water records list Dresden's public water system as privately owned.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

History5
  • 1799First settlers (Jonathan Cass and Seth Adams) claimed land in the area that became Dresden, on/near the former Shawnee village of Wakatomika.
  • 1835Village of Dresden incorporated (March 9).
  • 1852A 1,000-foot suspension bridge, reportedly the third suspension bridge built in the United States, was completed over the Muskingum River.
  • 1913The Great Flood of 1913 destroyed the 1852 suspension bridge.
  • 2016EPA SDWIS records show a monitoring/reporting violation opening in the water system in December 2015-January 2016, returned to compliance by September 2016.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

Treatment & pressure

How it is treated

Groundwater from 3 wells.

What it costs

EPA's federal inventory lists this drinking-water system's owner type as "Private".

Source: villageofdresden.com

Water quality & impurities2
ContaminantLevelLimitYear
Monitoring/reporting violations
Two non-health-based MR violations, both returned to compliance by 2016, per EPA SDWIS.
N/A violationN/A
Yearly water quality report (inadequate)N/A violationN/A2024

EPA compliance record

Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0 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 & plans1

Planned or needed

  • USDA Rural Development grant for wastewater infrastructure · $1.3 million · unknown
Supply stress

Small groundwater drinking-water system (~2,000 population served, 950 service connections per EPA record) drawing from 3 wells; an open violation since December 2024 for an inadequate yearly water quality report suggests administrative/compliance strain on the private owner.

Sewers

Sanitary

Confirmed via Ohio EPA NPDES permit renewal (Public Notice 204116, June 2024): the Village of Dresden operates its own "Village of Dresden WWTP" at 30 Lock Street, a Class II treatment works with a 400,000 gpd (0.40 MGD) design flow, discharging to the Muskingum River at River Mile 91.7 under Ohio EPA Permit 0PB00012*ND.

Source: dam.assets.ohio.gov

Sources

Serves

Main water supplier in 2 ZIP codes

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

Dresden does not buy water from another system on record; it treats its own source water.

No other system is on record buying water from Dresden.

What the records show about Dresden

Who runs it

EPA's record says Dresden has 950 service connections and serves 2,000 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 740-891-7137.

Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.

How the water is treated

EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Dresden: aeration, corrosion control, chlorine disinfection, and iron and manganese removal.

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 Dresden 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 November 2026).

Lead and copper at the tap

For the sampling period ending December 2025, EPA's record lists the 90th-percentile lead result at Dresden as 0 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027. EPA records a result below the lab's reporting level as 0, so this is the result reported, not proof that no home sampled had lead.

EPA has 9 sampling periods on file for Dresden 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 Dresden sent EPA, 963 lines are counted.

Service lines in the inventory
MaterialLines
Lead14
Galvanized, needing replacement19
Unknown material350
Not lead580
All lines963

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

Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Dresden (latest sample August 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 1 plant of Dresden as sampled, most recently February 2026.

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 Dresden's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 19 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 30.8 µg/L and the highest single sample was 46.1 µg/L, from 15 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.

For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 0 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 3.8 µg/L and the highest single sample was 7.5 µg/L, from 15 samples.

Disinfection byproducts in the distribution system
ByproductLimitLatest yearly averageWorst yearly averageHighest sampleSamples
TTHM80 µg/L19 µg/L (2019)30.8 µg/L46.1 µg/L15
HAA560 µg/L0 µg/L3.8 µg/L7.5 µg/L15

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 1.58 mg/L (as nitrogen), in 2019, the last year sampled. 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).

Nitrate, arsenic and radioactivity in finished water, 2012 to 2019
ContaminantSamplesHighest resultLimitSamples over limit
Nitrate (as nitrogen)81.58 mg/L10 mg/L0
Arsenic3not detected10 µg/L0
Combined radium11.1 pCi/L5 pCi/L0

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.

Solvents and fuels in finished water, 2012 to 2019
CompoundLimitSamplesDetected inHighest resultSamples over limit
Benzene5 µg/L60 of 6not detected0
Carbon tetrachloride5 µg/L60 of 6not detected0
1,2-dichloroethane5 µg/L60 of 6not detected0
Trichloroethylene (TCE)5 µg/L60 of 6not detected0
Tetrachloroethylene (PCE)5 µg/L60 of 6not detected0
Vinyl chloride2 µg/L60 of 6not detected0

"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 1 of 3 samples, highest 107 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.

Herbicides and metals in finished water, 2012 to 2019
SubstanceKindLimitSamplesDetected inHighest resultSamples over limit
AtrazineFarm chemical3 µg/L20 of 2not detected0
AlachlorFarm chemical2 µg/L20 of 2not detected0
ChromiumMetal100 µg/L30 of 3not detected0
CadmiumMetal5 µg/L30 of 3not detected0
BariumMetal2,000 µg/L31 of 3107 µg/L0
MercuryMetal2 µg/L30 of 3not detected0
SeleniumMetal50 µg/L30 of 3not detected0
ThalliumMetal2 µg/L30 of 3not detected0

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 188 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Dresden tested positive (0%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 24 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 Dresden has fluoride from natural sources, but at a level below what is recommended for preventing tooth decay, and does not adjust it. The level it reports is 0.1 mg/L.

EPA's treatment table lists no fluoridation step at Dresden.

Measured fluoride: every sample at the plant's entry points in 2018 was below the 0.1 mg/L reporting limit; detected samples in earlier years ran from 0.09 to 0.1 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.

Water and sewer bills

Ohio EPA's 2023 rate survey puts the water bill at Dresden for a household using 5,000 gallons a month at $384 a year, about $32 a month.

The sewer bill in the same survey is $331 a year at 5,000 gallons a month.

Annual bills, 2023
UseWater, per yearSewer, per year
2,500 gallons a month$290$236
5,000 gallons a month$384$331
8,000 gallons a month$498$444

The survey lists it as “Dresden”. 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

The service area drawn on the map for Dresden comes from the utility's own map.

Source: EPA Service Area Boundaries; resident estimate by this atlas from ZIP-code overlap.

Photograph

Historic view of Main Street, Dresden, Ohio, Muskingum County
Historic view of Main Street, Dresden, Ohio, Muskingum CountyPhoto: This file was contributed to Wikimedia Commons by Columbus Metropolitan Library · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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 OH6000212 (EPA ECHO).

Notable facts: en.wikipedia.org

History: en.wikipedia.org

Rates: villageofdresden.com

Sewers: dam.assets.ohio.gov

Quick answers

Where does Dresden get its water?

Dresden treats its own water from Groundwater wells (3 wells).

How many people does Dresden serve?

Dresden serves about 2,000 people, and is the main water system for 2 ZIP codes.

Is there lead in Dresden water?

In the sampling period ending December 2025, EPA's record lists Dresden's 90th-percentile lead level in tap samples as 0 ppb (the federal action level is 15 ppb). EPA records a result below the lab's reporting level as 0, so this is the result reported, not proof that no home had lead.

Cite this page

Cite this page as:

Cracked Buckeye, "Dresden · OH6000212", https://crackedbuckeye.com/water/OH6000212/, built 2026-11-02, accessed [date].

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