Water system
Aqua Ohio - Massillon
EPA ID OH7604512 · Stark County · 95,636 people served
Aqua Ohio - Massillon treats its own water from Wells in Tuscarawas Valley sand & gravel aquifer.
The system's record
- Aquifer
- Tuscarawas Valley sand and gravel aquifer
- Active wells
- 11
- Serves
- 95,636 people · Stark County
- EPA ID
- OH7604512
About this area's water
Did you know
- The Massillon Water Company was chartered on September 22, 1853 with $50,000 in stock and distributed water through cement-lined wrought-iron pipe.
- In 1886 New York financiers Samuel R. Bullock & Co. bought the works, pumped Sippo Lake water with two 2-million-gallon-a-day Blake engines, and built a 150-foot standpipe.
- In March 1957 the private water company handed the City of Massillon its old reservoir - 7 acres of land and 18 acres of water - for a public park.
- Massillon's water is chlorinated but never filtered or softened: the 2024 CCR lists chlorine disinfection as the whole treatment train.
History5
- 1853Massillon Water Company incorporated Sept. 22 with $50,000 capital stock; piped water in cement-lined wrought-iron mains from a reservoir near Prospect St.
- 1886Samuel R. Bullock & Co. of New York bought the works, pumped Sippo Lake water to the reservoir with two 2-MGD Blake engines, and built a 150-foot standpipe.
- 1893After the Panic of 1893 the plant sold at sheriff's auction for $77,000; the buyer formed the Massillon Water Supply Company.
- 1928Federal Water Service's Massillon Water Service Company was renamed the Ohio Water Service Company.
- 1999Consumers Water Co., which had absorbed Ohio Water Service in 1973, merged into Philadelphia Suburban, renamed Aqua America in 2004.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Ten wells in a Tuscarawas Valley sand-and-gravel aquifer; water is disinfected with chlorine (the 2024 CCR describes no filtration or softening train). Aqua also buys North Canton water to supplement Green and parts of the Stark County system.
Water pressure
not published - no CCR, engineering report, or pressure-zone map found with a service pressure figure.
What it costs
No $/1,000 gal published. Pending PUCO case 25-0594-WW-AIR seeks $13.4M more: $4.28-$25.80/month at 4,000 gal by district (OCC; hearings Jan-Feb 2026).
Water quality & impurities8
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 23.8-27.9; purchased North Canton water ran 33.8 ppb. No violation. | 27.9 ppb | 80 | 2024 |
| Haloacetic acids (HAA5) Range 6.0-8.6; reported only for the purchased North Canton supply. | 8.6 ppb | 60 | 2024 |
| Total chlorine residual Range 0.9-1.4 ppm. | 1.0 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2024 |
| Fluoride Range 0.8-1.1 ppm; natural deposits plus additive. | 1.0 ppm | 4 | 2024 |
| Barium Far below the limit; erosion of natural deposits. | 0.013 ppm | 2 | 2022 |
| Lead (90th percentile) 33 samples, none over the action level. | ND ppb | AL=15 | 2024 |
| Copper (90th percentile) 33 samples, none over the action level. | ND ppm | AL=1.3 | 2024 |
| PFAS (PFPeA / PFHxA) Trace detections under EPA's UCMR5; all other PFAS non-detect. | ND-0.0030 /… ppb | unregulated… | 2023 |
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0 ppb in 2024 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
3 violations of any kind logged since 2020: 2 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 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 & plans3
Recent and current work
- Aqua Ohio statewide capital investment, 2014-2024 · $522 million · 2024 · completed
The 2024 CCR reports Aqua invested nearly $522M across its Ohio water systems over the decade. No Massillon-specific project list is published.
Planned or needed
- Aqua Ohio 2025 capital program · $67 million · 2025 · planned
Aqua's 2024 CCR says it planned about $67M of Ohio system investment in 2025; no Massillon project list given. - PUCO rate case 25-0594-WW-AIR · 2026 · proposed
Aqua seeks $13.4M more statewide to recover capital investment; hearings were held Jan.-Feb. 2026 and no decision is reflected in OCC materials.
Supply stress
Ohio EPA rates the Tuscarawas Valley aquifer highly susceptible to contamination - aquifer sensitivity, many potential contaminant sources in the protection area, and evidence of past human impacts on groundwater (2024 CCR). Trace PFPeA/PFHxA in 2023 UCMR5; no MCL exceedances.
Sewers
Sanitary
Aqua Ohio is a water-only utility here. Sanitary sewer service in Massillon is a City of Massillon function.
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Main supplier in 3 ZIP codes
Serves
Main water supplier in 4 ZIP codes
- 44646 · Massillon89% of residents
- 44718 · Jackson Township and Canton73% of residents
- 44647 · Massillon69% of residents
- 44232 · Green20% of residents
Also present in 8 more ZIP codes
- 44708 · Canton26% of residents
- 44685 · Green and Uniontown23% of residents
- 44720 · North Canton and Canton13% of residents
- 44614 · Lawrence Township and Canal Fulton9% of residents
- 44706 · Canton8% of residents
- 44662 · Bethlehem Township and Navarre4% of residents
- 44312 · Akron4% of residents
- 44319 · Coventry Township and Akron3% 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
Aqua Ohio - Massillon does not buy water from another system on record; it treats its own source water.
1 system on record buys water from Aqua Ohio - Massillon: Stark County Water District.
What the records show about Aqua Ohio - Massillon
Who runs it
EPA's record says Aqua Ohio - Massillon has 38,527 service connections and serves 95,636 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 330-832-5764.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Aqua Ohio - Massillon: corrosion control, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, fluoridation, 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's record shows no health-based violations for Aqua Ohio - Massillon since 2015.
EPA logs 3 violations of any kind since 2020: 2 for required testing that was missed or reported late; 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 2024, the 90th-percentile lead result at Aqua Ohio - Massillon was 0 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027. A result of 0 means at least nine in ten of the homes sampled had no lead detected.
EPA has 3 sampling periods on file for Aqua Ohio - Massillon since 2016, the first ending in 2018; 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 Aqua Ohio - Massillon sent EPA, 40,441 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 1,119 |
| Unknown material | 11,387 |
| Not lead | 27,935 |
| All lines | 40,441 |
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 Aqua Ohio - Massillon in 2023 and measured 29 PFAS.
PFOA and PFOS were not detected, against a federal limit of 4 ng/L each.
The highest PFAS results were PFHxA 3.1 ng/L and PFPeA 3 ng/L.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Aqua Ohio - Massillon (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 Aqua Ohio - Massillon as sampled, most recently July 2026.
| Compound | Highest result | Federal limit |
|---|---|---|
| PFOA | not detected | 4 ng/L |
| PFOS | not detected | 4 ng/L |
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 Aqua Ohio - Massillon's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 35.4 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 35.4 µg/L and the highest single sample was 45.9 µg/L, from 52 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 5.6 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 6.9 µg/L and the highest single sample was 8.5 µg/L, from 52 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 35.4 µg/L (2019) | 35.4 µg/L | 45.9 µg/L | 52 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 5.6 µg/L | 6.9 µg/L | 8.5 µg/L | 52 |
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 9 samples through 2019 (limit 10 mg/L as nitrogen; above 10 is unsafe for infants).
Arsenic: the highest of 5 samples was 2.2 µg/L (limit 10); detections averaged 2.2; none over the limit.
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 9 | not detected | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 5 | 2.2 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 4 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | 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 1.1 µg/L (limit 100); barium in 2 of 3 samples, highest 14 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 | 1.1 µg/L | 0 |
| Cadmium | Metal | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 3 | 2 of 3 | 14 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, 7 of 8,896 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Aqua Ohio - Massillon tested positive (0.08%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 1,157 did. E. coli was never found in the 7 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 Aqua Ohio - Massillon adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at Aqua Ohio - Massillon.
Measured fluoride: 0.86 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2019 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.86 to 1.1 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 Aqua Ohio - Massillon, highest 11.4 µg/L; detections averaged 10.9, 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.
How well the service area is mapped
The service area drawn on the map for Aqua Ohio - Massillon comes from the utility's own map.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 88,397 residents are inside the boundary, 92% of the 95,636 people Aqua Ohio - Massillon 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 — 12 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 OH7604512 (EPA ECHO).
Aqua Ohio - Massillon's own pages: prod.aquawater.com, prod.aquawater.com
