Water system
Odrc-pickaway Correction
EPA ID OH6501712 · Pickaway County · 3,376 people served · state-owned
Odrc-pickaway Correction treats its own water from Groundwater wells (7 wells).
The system's record
- Active wells
- 7
- Serves
- 3,376 people · Pickaway County
- EPA ID
- OH6501712
About this area's water
Did you know
- The 'community' anchoring ZIP codes 43126 Harrisburg and 43117 Derby is not a town at all: it is a state prison utility with 40 service connections serving about 3,376 inmates and staff from seven on-site wells.
- The prison's wastewater plant is permitted for 2.3 million gallons a day but averaged 0.724 MGD in 2024 - though it peaked at 3.474 MGD, above its design capacity.
- Its treated sludge is farmed: 22 authorized Class B biosolids sites covering 927.5 acres across Pickaway County, with a landfill contract as backup.
- When Ohio EPA inspected in April 2025 it found the plant's UV disinfection out of service, no certified operator of record since August 2024, and years of laboratory and land-application records lost when a previous…
- The prison occupies buildings originally built for an Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities facility; it became a prison in 1984.
Source: data.epa.govedocpub.epa.ohio.govedocpub.epa.ohio.gov
History5
- 1984Pickaway Correctional Institution opened as a prison at 11781 State Route 762 near Orient, in buildings that had formerly housed an Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities facility.
- 2020The prison drew national attention as one of the largest single COVID-19 hotspots in the United States - an outbreak unrelated to the water supply, but the site's most significant recent…
- 2023The institution's NPDES wastewater permit 4PP00003 took effect on February 1, running to January 31, 2028.
- 2025Ohio EPA inspected the wastewater plant on April 9-10 and issued a 12-item Notice of Violation on May 19, placing the facility in significant non-compliance; a follow-up biosolids inspection report…
- 2026The state solicited bids in March to replace the end-of-life ultraviolet disinfection system at the institution, with a target completion date of May 1, 2026.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgedocpub.epa.ohio.govedocpub.epa.ohio.gov
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
A self-supplied community water system: seven on-site wells, treated at the institution's own water treatment plant, which is co-located with the wastewater plant and shares staff with it. Federal SDWIS lists the system as a community water system, state government owned, groundwater sourced…
Source: data.epa.govdata.epa.govedocpub.epa.ohio.gov
Water pressure
Not published.
What it costs
Not applicable and not published. This is a state correctional institution supplying its own inmate and staff population through 40 service connections; it is not a rate-charging…
Source: data.epa.gov
Water quality & impurities
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 4.2 ppb in 2026 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA health-based violations since 2015:
- 2024Lead and Copper Rule Revisions · lead service line inventory missing or incomplete (a records requirement, not a lead test result) · returned to compliance
14 violations of any kind logged since 2020: 7 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 6 for a report, record or notice that was missing, late or incomplete (the yearly water quality report, a public notice, lead line records); 1 health-based.
Projects & plans4
Recent and current work
- PCI Water Treatment Plant UV Replacement (OhioBuys SRC0000037153) · 2026
State of Ohio solicitation issued for Pickaway Correctional Institution (DRC231300), posted March 2, 2026, responses due March 17, 2026, target completion May… - Secondary return-activated-sludge pump repair at the wastewater plant · 2025 · completed
Recorded as completed in March 2025 on Ohio EPA's biosolids generator inspection checklist.
Source: highergov.comedocpub.epa.ohio.gov
Planned or needed
- Corrective plan to return wastewater plant components to service · 2025 · needed
Ohio EPA's May 19, 2025 Notice of Violation directed the institution to submit a plan, with short- and long-term operation and maintenance procedures, to… - Hire a certified wastewater operator of record and meet Class III staffing hours · 2025 · needed
Ohio EPA cited the plant for having no certified operator of record since August 2024 and for failing minimum staffing hours for a Class III plant; by the…
Supply stress
The stress here is institutional rather than hydrologic. Seven wells serve roughly 3,376 people through 40 connections, and no capacity, drawdown or wellfield condition data is published. What Ohio EPA did document in 2025 is a thin operating bench: the same two Class I operators cover both the wastewater plant and the co-located water…
Sewers
Sanitary
The institution runs its own Class III wastewater treatment plant at 11781 State Route 762, Orient, under NPDES permit 4PP00003 (effective February 1, 2023, expiring January 31, 2028). Design capacity is 2.3 MGD against a 2024 average flow of 0.724 MGD and a 2024 peak of 3.474 MGD. The train is headworks fine screening (under 1.59 cm…
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Present in 0 ZIP codes
Serves
No ZIP code has Odrc-pickaway Correction on record as its main water supplier.
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
Odrc-pickaway Correction does not buy water from another system on record; it treats its own source water.
1 system on record buys water from Odrc-pickaway Correction: Village of Orient.
What the records show about Odrc-pickaway Correction
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Odrc-pickaway Correction as state-owned. It has 40 service connections and serves 3,376 people.
EPA classes it as a community water system, one that serves the same residents all year.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Odrc-pickaway Correction: aeration, corrosion control, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, lime 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 counts 1 health-based violation for Odrc-pickaway Correction since 2015. Health-based means a contaminant above its legal limit or a required treatment step not carried out. It falls into 1 separate problem (one contaminant or rule in one year); the table lists it.
EPA logs 14 violations of any kind since 2020: 7 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 6 for a report, record or notice that was missing, late or incomplete (the yearly water quality report, a public notice, lead line records); 1 health-based.
| Year | Contaminant or rule | Kind | Measured | Limit | Status in EPA's record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Lead and Copper Rule Revisions | lead service line inventory missing or incomplete (a records requirement, not a lead test result) | not on file | not on file | returned to compliance |
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 June 2026, the 90th-percentile lead result at Odrc-pickaway Correction was 4.2 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
EPA has 9 sampling periods on file for Odrc-pickaway Correction since 2016, the first ending in 2017; 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 Odrc-pickaway Correction sent EPA, 32 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 17 |
| Not lead | 15 |
| All lines | 32 |
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 Odrc-pickaway Correction in 2023 to 2024 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 Odrc-pickaway Correction (latest sample August 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 Odrc-pickaway Correction's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 26.4 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 42 µg/L and the highest single sample was 42.8 µg/L, from 15 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 5 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 7.3 µg/L and the highest single sample was 9.8 µg/L, from 15 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 26.4 µg/L (2019) | 42 µg/L | 42.8 µg/L | 15 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 5 µg/L | 7.3 µg/L | 9.8 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 0.22 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2014; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 0.1 mg/L. No sample was over the limit of 10 mg/L. Nitrate above 10 is unsafe for infants.
Arsenic: the highest of 9 samples was 14 µg/L (limit 10); detections averaged 6.9; 1 over the limit.
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 8 | 0.22 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 9 | 14 µg/L | 10 µg/L | 1 |
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. Not detected: atrazine in 2 samples, alachlor in 2 samples, chromium in 3 samples, cadmium in 4 samples, barium in 3 samples, mercury in 3 samples, selenium in 4 samples, thallium in 4 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 | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Mercury | Metal | 2 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Selenium | Metal | 50 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Thallium | Metal | 2 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | 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, 2 of 536 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Odrc-pickaway Correction tested positive (0.37%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 60 did. E. coli was never found in the 87 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 Odrc-pickaway Correction has fluoride from natural sources at the recommended level for preventing tooth decay. The level it reports is 0.71 mg/L.
EPA's treatment table lists no fluoridation step at Odrc-pickaway Correction.
Measured fluoride: 1.3 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2019 (above the target); samples ran from 0.91 to 1.3 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 Odrc-pickaway Correction, highest 23.8 µg/L; detections averaged 22, last sampled in 2023.
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.
Photograph
On the map
Show this system's territory on the map — 0 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 OH6501712 (EPA ECHO).
Notable facts: data.epa.gov, edocpub.epa.ohio.gov, edocpub.epa.ohio.gov, en.wikipedia.org
History: en.wikipedia.org, edocpub.epa.ohio.gov, edocpub.epa.ohio.gov, highergov.com
Planned work: edocpub.epa.ohio.gov, edocpub.epa.ohio.gov
Capital projects: highergov.com, edocpub.epa.ohio.gov
Rates: data.epa.gov
Sewers: edocpub.epa.ohio.gov, edocpub.epa.ohio.gov
Treatment: data.epa.gov, data.epa.gov, edocpub.epa.ohio.gov, edocpub.epa.ohio.gov
Supply stress: data.epa.gov, data.epa.gov, edocpub.epa.ohio.gov
