Fremont City

• Removing Fremont's 1913 Ballville Dam in 2018 cost about $12 million — roughly $15 million less than repairing it would have — and reopened 22 miles of the Sandusky River.
• An angler snagged a lake sturgeon above the old dam site in spring 2019; ODNR biologists said it was likely the first one seen there in about 150 years.
• More than 11,000 freshwater mussels of 14 native species, including purple wartyback and round pigtoe, were hand-relocated upstream in the summer of 2017 before the dam came down.
• Fremont's water never touches a well: it is pumped out of the Sandusky River into a reservoir, then runs downhill by gravity to the treatment plant on Tiffin Street.
• Every Fremont water and sewer connection carries a separate line-item surcharge for EPA-mandated improvements on top of the normal rate — $7.77 a month on the water side and $6.95 on the sewer side for a typical in-city…

Source: greatlakesnow.orgfremontohio.orgfremontohio.org

• 1913Ballville Dam built on the Sandusky River by the Ohio Power Company, roughly 420 feet wide and 35 feet tall.
• 1959The City of Fremont purchases Ballville Dam and begins using its impoundment as a drinking water supply.
• 2013Fremont opens a new off-stream water supply reservoir, taking over the storage role the dam pool had served.
• 2017Ahead of the dam's removal, more than 11,000 freshwater mussels representing 14 native species, including purple wartyback and round pigtoe, are relocated upstream.
• 2018Ballville Dam demolished over roughly 20 working days, following a 2017 pilot notch cut. Removal cost about $12 million against an estimated $27 million to repair and upgrade the aging dam, and…
• 2019An angler lands a lake sturgeon upstream of the old dam site — the first known sturgeon there in roughly 150 years.

Source: greatlakesnow.orgfremontohio.org

How it is treated

Fremont's source is the Sandusky River, classified as surface water. Water is pumped from the river into the Fremont Reservoir and flows by gravity from the reservoir to the Fremont Water Treatment Plant at 1113 Tiffin Street. Treatment is conventional surface-water practice — filtration (turbidity…

Source: fremontohio.org

Water pressure

Not published. No psi figure appears in the water quality reports or rate schedules available; the city's own water treatment pages could not be retrieved because the site blocks…

Source: fremontohio.orgfremontohio.org

$9.09 per 1,000 gallons

Typical household bill about $70 a month for water.

City of Fremont water rate schedule for bills rendered on or after January 1, 2026. Residential inside city, 5/8-inch meter: $16.84 fixed monthly charge, plus a commodity charge…

Source: fremontohio.org

Source: fremontohio.org

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.

Recent and current work

• Ballville Dam removal and Sandusky River restoration · $12 million · 2018 · completed
  Removal cost about $12 million against an estimated $27 million to repair the 1913 dam. Demolition took roughly 20 working days after a 2017 pilot notch cut…
• Fremont Reservoir · 2013 · completed
  New off-stream water supply reservoir, fed by pumping from the Sandusky River and draining by gravity to the treatment plant; it replaced the dam impoundment's…

Source: greatlakesnow.org

Planned or needed

• EPA-mandated improvements program (water and sewer) · 2026 · planned
  Effective January 1, 2026 every water connection pays a separate EPA-mandated-improvements fee ($7.77/month in city, $9.33 out of city, on a 5/8-inch meter…

Source: fremontohio.org

High. Fremont's own water quality report states that its surface water source is considered to have HIGH susceptibility to contamination, naming agricultural runoff, oil and gas wells, inadequate septic systems, leaking underground storage tanks, and road and rail crossings as potential contaminant sources. Nitrate at 3.77 ppm and…

Source: fremontohio.orgfremontohio.org

Sanitary

The City of Fremont operates its own wastewater utility, the Water Reclamation Center. Sewer rates for bills rendered on or after January 1, 2026 are tiered monthly per 100 cubic feet: in city, $6.10 on the first 200 cu ft, $5.85 on the next 4,000, $5.57 on the next 4,000, $5.34 on the next 4,000 and $4.94 above 12,200 cu ft…

Storm

Not verified. No storm sewer description and no stormwater utility fee appear in the 2026 water and sewer rate schedule, and the city's departmental pages could not be retrieved.

Source: fremontohio.orgfremontohio.org

Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.