Water system
Gibsonburg Village
EPA ID OH7200412 · Sandusky County · 2,506 people served · owned by a local government
Gibsonburg Village treats its own water from Groundwater wells (5 wells).
The system's record
- Active wells
- 5
- Serves
- 2,506 people · Sandusky County
- EPA ID
- OH7200412
About this area's water
Did you know
- The village found industrial solvents (benzene, cis-1,2-DCE, PCE, TCE) in one of its wells for nearly two decades before finally pulling it from service in 2010, and still tests quarterly because of it.
- In 2025 the water plant pumped an average of 238,492 gallons a day (range 171,880-305,620 gpd) against 700,000 gallons of total distribution storage capacity — a healthy buffer for a town of about 2,500 (figures from…
- The 54-55 psi service pressure is one of only a few in this batch of systems to be openly published rather than left to guesswork.
History5
- 1991-2010Benzene, cis-1,2-dichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and trichloroethylene were detected in the ground water at levels of concern from February 1991 to 2010; the Village removed the contaminated…
- 1985Construction of the village's central sewage (wastewater) treatment facility was completed.
- 1993Most sewer plant systems were upgraded with computerized controls.
- 2010-presentVillage continues quarterly volatile organic compound (VOC) monitoring of its wells as a legacy of the 1991-2010 contamination.
- 2025Village published a Lead Service Line Inventory, linked from the 2025 CCR.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Water comes from five deep limestone wells on the south/southeast side of the village and 'requires only minimal chlorine and aeration treatment' (village water department page); no filtration plant. Note: the same water department page separately states 'six deep limestone wells,' conflicting with…
Source: gibsonburgohio.orggibsonburgohio.org
Water pressure
54 to 55 psi, quoted directly from the village water department page — confirmed, one of the few systems in this batch to publish an actual pressure figure.
Source: gibsonburgohio.org
What it costs
We found no water rate schedule published online.
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 18.1-20.6 ppb; no violation. | 19.35 ppb | 80 ppb | 2025 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Not detected. | 0 ppb | 60 ppb | 2025 |
| Lead (90th percentile) 0 of 10 samples over the action level. | 1.8 ppb | 15 ppb action… | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) 0 of 10 samples over the action level. | 0.119 ppm | 1.3 ppm action… | 2025 |
| Fluoride Natural/additive source. | 1.46 ppm | 4 ppm | 2025 |
| Combined Radium 226/228 Erosion of natural deposits; monitored less than annually. | 1.07 pCi/L | 5 pCi/L | 2022 |
| Gross Alpha (excl. radon/uranium) Erosion of natural deposits; no violation. | 4.6 pCi/L | 15 pCi/L | 2022 |
| Benzene Legacy VOC from the Feb. 1991-2010 well contamination episode, still monitored quarterly. | 0.06 ppb | 5 ppb | 2025 |
| cis-1,2-Dichloroethylene Legacy VOC, well under MCL. | 0.1 ppb | 70 ppb | 2025 |
| Toluene Well under MCL. | 0.035 ppb | 100 ppb | 2025 |
Source: gibsonburgohio.org
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 2.5 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
2 violations of any kind logged since 2020: 2 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
- Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) annual reporting · 2018-2024 · completed
Village has posted CSO annual reports for 2018-2024 and a formal Gibsonburg CSO Plan (per the village's wastewater treatment plant page). - Lead Service Line Inventory · 2025 · completed
Published inventory of service line materials village-wide, linked directly from the 2025 CCR (gibsonburgohio.org/lead-service-line-inventory_2025/).
Source: gibsonburgohio.orggibsonburgohio.org
Planned or needed
- Gibsonburg CSO Plan
A CSO long-term control-type plan document exists on the village site, but specific future capital items/costs were not accessible in pages reviewed.
Source: gibsonburgohio.org
Supply stress
Per the 2025 CCR's source water information, Ohio EPA rates the well field as highly susceptible to contamination: a thin protective clay layer, shallow depth to water (under 10 ft), location in a sensitive potential karst area, significant potential contaminant sources in the protection area, and documented man-made contaminants…
Source: gibsonburgohio.org
Sewers
Sanitary
Village-owned central sewage treatment plant completed in 1985, computerized upgrades in 1993 (per the village's wastewater treatment plant page); operates under a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) permit with annual CSO reports posted 2018-2024.
Storm
System is at least partly combined (per CSO documentation) rather than fully separated; no dedicated stormwater fee was found.
Source: gibsonburgohio.org
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
- 43431 · Gibsonburg56% 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
Gibsonburg 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 Gibsonburg Village.
What the records show about Gibsonburg Village
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Gibsonburg Village as owned by a local government. It has 1,000 service connections and serves 2,506 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 2025. Its office telephone on EPA's record is 419-637-2634.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Gibsonburg Village: aeration and chlorine disinfection.
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 Gibsonburg Village since 2015.
EPA logs 2 violations of any kind since 2020: 2 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 Gibsonburg Village was 2.5 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
The highest result on file is 2.9 ppb, in the period ending December 2022.
EPA has 5 sampling periods on file for Gibsonburg Village 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 Gibsonburg Village sent EPA, 1,024 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 72 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 29 |
| Unknown material | 507 |
| Not lead | 416 |
| All lines | 1,024 |
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 Gibsonburg Village (latest sample September 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 Gibsonburg Village as sampled, most recently May 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 Gibsonburg Village's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 18.6 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 59 µg/L and the highest single sample was 59 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 23 µg/L and the highest single sample was 23 µg/L, from 15 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 18.6 µg/L (2019) | 59 µg/L | 59 µg/L | 15 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 0 µg/L | 23 µg/L | 23 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 was not detected in 8 samples through 2019 (limit 10 mg/L as nitrogen; above 10 is unsafe for infants).
Arsenic was not detected in 3 samples (limit 10 µg/L).
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 8 | not detected | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 3 | not detected | 10 µg/L | 0 |
| Combined radium | 1 | not detected | 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 32 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 32 | 0 of 32 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 32 | 0 of 32 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 32 | 0 of 32 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 32 | 0 of 32 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 32 | 0 of 32 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 32 | 0 of 32 | 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 3 of 3 samples, highest 60.2 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine, alachlor, chromium, cadmium, mercury, selenium, and thallium, in 3 samples each.
| Substance | Kind | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atrazine | Farm chemical | 3 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Alachlor | Farm chemical | 2 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | 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 | 3 of 3 | 60.2 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 251 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Gibsonburg Village tested positive (0%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 37 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 Gibsonburg Village has fluoride from natural sources at the recommended level for preventing tooth decay. The level it reports is 1.14 mg/L.
EPA's treatment table lists no fluoridation step at Gibsonburg Village.
Measured fluoride: 1.21 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2019 (above the target); samples ran from 1.2 to 1.27 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.
How well the service area is mapped
EPA estimated the service area of Gibsonburg 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 2,515 residents are inside the boundary, 100% of the 2,506 people Gibsonburg 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 OH7200412 (EPA ECHO).
Notable facts: gibsonburgohio.org, gibsonburgohio.org
History: gibsonburgohio.org, gibsonburgohio.org
Water quality: gibsonburgohio.org
Planned work: gibsonburgohio.org
Water pressure: gibsonburgohio.org
Capital projects: gibsonburgohio.org, gibsonburgohio.org
Rates: gibsonburgohio.org, gibsonburgohio.org
Sewers: gibsonburgohio.org
Treatment: gibsonburgohio.org, gibsonburgohio.org
Supply stress: gibsonburgohio.org
