Water system
Chillicothe City
EPA ID OH7100112 · Ross County · 21,725 people served · owned by a local government
Chillicothe City treats its own water from Scioto Buried Valley Aquifer (Teays Valley system) wells.
The system's record
- Aquifer
- Scioto Buried River Valley Aquifer (Teays Valley Aquifer)
- Water bodies
- Scioto River valley (buried aquifer)
- Active wells
- 8
- Serves
- 21,725 people · Ross County
- EPA ID
- OH7100112
Seven to eight deep wells (116-176 ft) in Yoctangee Park draw from the ancient Teays River buried valley beneath the modern Scioto River; replaced an earlier river-water source.
About this area's water
Did you know
- The city's wells sit inside Yoctangee Park, drawing from the buried channel of the ancient Teays River — a prehistoric river system erased by glaciation and buried under younger sediment long before the modern Scioto…
- The plant pumps roughly a billion gallons a year; treatment chemicals run about $375,000 annually and electricity about $200,000, the plant's two largest costs.
- Chillicothe's Scioto River floodwall doubles as recreation infrastructure: it carries a 5-mile paved bike path.
- The city keeps emergency water connections to Ross County Water Company and the Chillicothe Correctional Institution — and used neither in 2025.
- An original 3.8-million-gallon storage basin on Carlisle Hill is topped with a floating rubber cover.
History5
- 1941The city's water treatment plant on Park Street opened; it was later demolished and the site is now Veterans Memorial Park.
- 1991The current Chillicothe water treatment plant, in Yoctangee Park next to the well field, went into service, replacing the 1941 Park Street plant.
- 2003Ohio EPA source water assessment completed for the city's well field, rating the aquifer highly susceptible to contamination.
- 2019Source water assessment updated in May 2019.
- 2022Source water assessment revised again in September 2022.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Raw water is drawn from seven deep wells in Yoctangee Park, immediately adjacent to the treatment plant, in the Scioto Buried River Valley (Teays Valley) aquifer. The plant lime-softens the water to remove hardness, then adds carbon dioxide to readjust pH after softening; chlorine is added as a…
Source: cms7files.revize.com
Water pressure
Not published in any source reviewed — no distribution pressure figures appear in the CCR, the utilities department pages, or local reporting on the plant.
What it costs
$6.62 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $28 a month for water.
Inside-city block schedule (City of Chillicothe Water & Sewer Rate Information sheet, no effective date printed): $8.48 minimum on a 3/4x5/8-inch meter covering the first 200…
Source: cms7files.revize.com
Water quality & impurities8
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 36.1-60.5 ppb; disinfection byproduct; no violation. The highest DBP reading of the three systems in this batch. | 60.5 ppb | 80 | 2025 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Range ND-7.7 ppb; no violation. | 7.7 ppb | 60 | 2025 |
| Chlorine Range 1.10-1.29 ppm; water additive used to control microbes. | 1.18 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2025 |
| Fluoride Natural deposits plus additive; no range reported; no violation. | 1.11 ppm | 4 | 2025 |
| Nitrate Well below the MCL. | 0.15 ppm | 10 | 2025 |
| Barium Erosion of natural deposits; no range reported; no violation. | 0.18 ppm | 2 | 2025 |
| Lead (90th percentile) Not detected at any of 30 sites; 0 of 30 above the action level. | ND ppb | 15 (action… | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) Range 0.010-0.037 ppm; 0 of 30 sites above the action level. | 0.028 ppm | 1.3 (action… | 2025 |
Source: cms7files.revize.com
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 of them paperwork (monitoring, reporting, public notice or consumer report).
Supply stress
Supply quantity is not the issue; source vulnerability is. Ohio EPA rates the Scioto Buried River Valley aquifer beneath the well field highly susceptible to contamination for three stated reasons: no protective clay layer over the aquifer, shallow depth (less than 20 feet below ground surface), and numerous significant potential…
Source: cms7files.revize.com
Sewers
Sanitary
The City of Chillicothe Utilities Department operates its own wastewater treatment plant alongside the water plant; Dale Goebel is the wastewater treatment plant supervisor and Randy Cartwright supervises water distribution and sanitary sewer collection. The department publishes sewer rates ($9.49 minimum plus $4.63 per 100 cubic feet…
Storm
No stormwater division, utility fee, or drainage program is listed by the Utilities Department, and none was found elsewhere. The city's Scioto River floodwall protects downtown from river flooding, but that is flood control rather than a storm sewer system.
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
- 45601 · Chillicothe46% 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
Chillicothe 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 Chillicothe City.
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
Chillicothe City's own pages: cmuchillicothe.com, sciotopost.com
Notable facts: cms7files.revize.com, sciotopost.com, en.wikipedia.org
History: cms7files.revize.com, sciotopost.com
Water quality: cms7files.revize.com
Rates: cms7files.revize.com
Sewers: chillicotheoh.gov, cms7files.revize.com
Treatment: cms7files.revize.com
Supply stress: cms7files.revize.com