Water system
Canal Fulton City
EPA ID OH7600912 · Stark County · 5,323 people served · owned by a local government
Canal Fulton City treats its own water from Groundwater wells (5 wells).
The system's record
- Active wells
- 5
- Serves
- 5,323 people · Stark County
- EPA ID
- OH7600912
About this area's water
Did you know
- Canal Fulton is a merger: the city took its present name in 1832 from the Ohio & Erie Canal plus local pioneer Ben Fulton, then in 1853 absorbed the neighboring villages of Milan (platted 1814) and West Fulton.
- The plant deliberately leaves the hardness in — a February 2024 finished-water sample came back at 313 mg/L, about 18.3 grains per gallon.
- The booster pump for the new water tower carried a 52-week manufacturing lead time, a big part of why the project ran long.
- The new tower, about 1,200 feet up off State Route 21, was built to get city water to at least 32 residents on Skyview Drive and Wooster Street for the first time.
- Canal Fulton had two boil advisories within three weeks in 2026: a Locust Street main shutdown in late February, then a system-wide one in mid-March after high winds knocked out the treatment plant's pumps overnight.
History6
- 1814Milan platted March 23, 1814 by Matthew Rowland, one of three settlements that later became Canal Fulton.
- 1826Fulton platted May 16, 1826 beside the Ohio & Erie Canal on the Tuscarawas River.
- 1832Fulton renamed Canal Fulton, joining the Ohio Canal's name to that of local pioneer Ben Fulton.
- 1853Canal Fulton absorbed the neighboring villages of Milan and West Fulton.
- 2022Ohio EPA notified the city on December 1, 2022 of a significant deficiency: critical system valves were not being exercised and recorded annually. The city set October 31, 2026 as its…
- 2025New elevated water tower at Arcadia Street NW and State Route 21 topped out in February 2025; the tower and its distribution lines were completed in Fall 2025, finally extending city water toward the…
Source: cityofcanalfulton-oh.goven.wikipedia.orgcityofcanalfulton-oh.gov
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Five active wells (Wells 4-8; Well 9 is listed inactive) in well fields adjacent to the Canal Fulton Water Works at 453 Water Street. Water is dosed with potassium permanganate and polymer to help remove iron and manganese, filtered through sand and gravel, chlorinated for disinfection with a…
Source: cityofcanalfulton-oh.govcityofcanalfulton-oh.govdata.epa.gov
Water pressure
No psi figures or pressure-zone documentation are published. The only pressure information the city has put out is incident-level: on March 14, 2026 wind-driven electrical damage…
What it costs
Not published. The Utility Department page covers billing procedure, autopay and the online portal but carries no rate schedule; the city's codified ordinances on American Legal…
Source: cityofcanalfulton-oh.govcodelibrary.amlegal.comcityofcanalfulton-oh.gov
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barium Drilling wastes, metal refinery discharge, erosion of natural deposits. | 0.22 ppm | 2 (MCL) | 2025 |
| Fluoride Range 0.26-1.56; fluoride is added, with a target range of 0.8-1.3 mg/L. | 1.02 ppm | 4 (MCL) | 2025 |
| TTHM (Total Trihalomethanes) Range 24.3-40.1; half the federal limit. | 40.1 ppb | 80 (MCL) | 2025 |
| Total chlorine Range 0.77-0.97. | 0.88 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2025 |
| Nitrate At the detection floor. | 0.1 ppm | 10 (MCL) | 2025 |
| Lead (90th percentile) Zero of 20 samples exceeded the action level. | 2.30 ppb | 15 (action… | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) Zero of 20 samples exceeded the action level. | 0.18 ppm | 1.3 (action… | 2025 |
| Total hardness 18.3 grains per gallon, sampled February 2024; the plant does not soften. Ohio EPA sets no hardness limit. | 313 mg/L | no standard | 2024 |
| Chloroform (UCMR5, unregulated) Range 7.8-16.2. Other UCMR5 detections: bromodichloromethane 9.40, dibromochloromethane 8.45, bromoform 2.35 ppb. | 12.00 ppb | none | 2025 |
| Lithium (UCMR5, unregulated) Range 9.8-11.3. | 10.55 ppb | none | 2025 |
Source: cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 2.3 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 & plans5
Recent and current work
- New elevated water tower and SR 21 distribution lines · $4.3 million · 2025 · completed
Built at Arcadia Street NW and State Route 21 at roughly 1,200 feet elevation to bring city water to at least 32 residents on Skyview Drive and Wooster Street.… - Locust Street water tower recoating and safety upgrades · 2026 · completed
Completed in early 2026 per the city's 2025 CCR. - Locust Street water main replacement · 2026 · under construction
Described as nearing completion in the 2025 CCR, with remaining storm sewer and road repairs due by the end of 2026. The February 2026 boil advisory followed a…
Source: cityofcanalfulton-oh.govyahoo.com
Planned or needed
- Critical valve exercising program (return to compliance) · 2026 · planned
Ohio EPA cited a significant deficiency on December 1, 2022 because critical system valves were not exercised and recorded annually. The city is exercising… - Promised $500,000 federal contribution to the water tower · $500,000 · 2025 · proposed
Under federal funding-freeze review as of March 2025; U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes said the status of the funds was unknown. No later resolution was found.
Supply stress
Ohio EPA's source water assessment rates the aquifer feeding Canal Fulton's wells as having moderate susceptibility to contamination: it is semi-confined, the partially confining unit varies in thickness and gives only limited protection, and significant potential contaminant sources sit inside the protection area. The city posts…
Source: cityofcanalfulton-oh.govcityofcanalfulton-oh.govcityofcanalfulton-oh.gov
Sewers
Sanitary
Canal Fulton operates its own Wastewater Treatment Plant at 5500 Butterbridge Road N.W., under the same superintendent as the water plant. Water and sewer are billed together on one monthly bill due the 20th. No sewer rate schedule, plant capacity, CSO inventory or consent decree is published on the city site.
Storm
Storm sewer repairs were being carried out alongside the Locust Street water main replacement, with that remaining work due to finish by the end of 2026. No separate stormwater utility, fee or flooding documentation was found.
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
- 44614 · Lawrence Township and Canal Fulton54% 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
Canal Fulton 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 Canal Fulton City.
What the records show about Canal Fulton City
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Canal Fulton City as owned by a local government. It has 2,274 service connections and serves 5,323 people.
EPA classes it as a community water system, one that serves the same residents all year.
Its office telephone on EPA's record is 330-854-5353.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Canal Fulton City: aeration, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, iron and manganese removal, and fluoridation.
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 Canal Fulton City 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 September 2026).
Lead and copper at the tap
In the sampling period ending December 2025, the 90th-percentile lead result at Canal Fulton City was 2.3 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
The highest result on file is 4.7 ppb, in the period ending December 2024.
EPA has 9 sampling periods on file for Canal Fulton City 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 Canal Fulton City sent EPA, 2,192 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 7 |
| Unknown material | 782 |
| Not lead | 1,403 |
| All lines | 2,192 |
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 2 samples of the water entering the pipes of Canal Fulton City in 2025 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 Canal Fulton City (latest sample September 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 Canal Fulton City's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 26.2 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 37.4 µg/L and the highest single sample was 41.7 µg/L, from 14 samples taken from 2013 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 2.2 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 5.4 µg/L and the highest single sample was 8.3 µg/L, from 14 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 26.2 µg/L (2019) | 37.4 µg/L | 41.7 µg/L | 14 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 2.2 µg/L | 5.4 µg/L | 8.3 µg/L | 14 |
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 0.29 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2014; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 0.13 mg/L. No sample was over the limit of 10 mg/L. Nitrate above 10 is unsafe for infants.
Arsenic: the highest of 10 samples was 3.4 µg/L (limit 10); detections averaged 2.1; none over the limit.
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 8 | 0.29 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 10 | 3.4 µg/L | 10 µg/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 8 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | 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: chromium in 1 of 3 samples, highest 1.27 µg/L (limit 100); barium in 3 of 3 samples, highest 224 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine, alachlor, 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 | 1 of 3 | 1.27 µg/L | 0 |
| Cadmium | Metal | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 3 | 3 of 3 | 224 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 579 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Canal Fulton City tested positive (0%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 72 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 Canal Fulton City adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at Canal Fulton City.
Measured fluoride: 1.12 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2019 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.54 to 1.12 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 Canal Fulton City, highest 11.3 µg/L; detections averaged 10.6, last sampled in 2025.
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.
How well the service area is mapped
The service area drawn on the map for Canal Fulton City comes from the utility's own map.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 6,914 residents are inside the boundary, 130% of the 5,323 people Canal Fulton City 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 OH7600912 (EPA ECHO).
Notable facts: cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov, en.wikipedia.org, yahoo.com, cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov
History: cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov, en.wikipedia.org, cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov, cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov
Water quality: cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov
Planned work: cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov, yahoo.com
Water pressure: cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov, yahoo.com
Capital projects: cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov, yahoo.com
Rates: cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov, codelibrary.amlegal.com, cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov
Sewers: cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov, cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov
Treatment: cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov, cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov, data.epa.gov
Supply stress: cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov, cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov, cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov