Water system
Barberton City
EPA ID OH7700411 · Summit County · 31,298 people served · owned by a local government
Barberton City treats its own water from Wolf Creek (Barberton) Reservoir, tributary of Tuscarawas River.
The system's record
- Water bodies
- Wolf Creek Reservoir (Barberton Reservoir), Wolf Creek, Tuscarawas River (watershed), Pigeon Creek wells (backup)
- Raw intakes
- Barberton Wolf Creek Reserv
- Active wells
- 3
- Serves
- 31,298 people · Summit County
- EPA ID
- OH7700411
About this area's water
Did you know
- Barberton was founded in 1891 by industrialist Ohio Columbus (O.C.) Barber, the Diamond Match magnate whose company town gave the city its name.
- The Barberton Reservoir is a 200-acre, 670-million-gallon lake on Upper Wolf Creek, fed by an 18,062-acre watershed spanning Medina and Summit counties.
- Two emergency interconnects with Akron's system sit ready as a backstop, but Barberton didn't buy a single gallon from Akron in 2025.
- Qualifying Barberton homeowners get a 20% discount rate of $7.22 per 1,000 gallons, and the water runs hard - about 170 ppm total hardness.
History5
- 1891City of Barberton founded by industrialist Ohio Columbus (O.C.) Barber, the Diamond Match Company magnate.
- 1969Ohio law took effect requiring fluoride to be added to public drinking water; Barberton still fluoridates under it, averaging 0.88 ppm in 2025.
- 2025Design work continued on an infrastructure improvement plan for the Barberton Reservoir dam, expected to go out to bid in late 2026.
- 2025The water treatment plant's own septic system was found no longer serviceable; a replacement pump station was designed for 2026 installation.
- 2026A 5% across-the-board water and sewer rate increase took effect with the March 2026 billing, under a standing 2013 ordinance allowing up to 5% a year.
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Conventional treatment: mixing, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and chlorine disinfection, plus fluoride and orthophosphate for corrosion control. Backup: three wells on Pigeon and Wolf Creek (4.6 MGD) and two emergency Akron interconnects.
Water pressure
not published; no psi figure or pressure-zone data found in the 2025 CCR, the 2026 rate schedule, or the city utilities pages.
What it costs
$9.02 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $45 a month for water.
Residential, +5% effective March 2026: $9.02/1,000 gal to 30,000 gal, then $8.02/$7.49; $22.55/mo minimum covers 2,500 gal. Bill shown at 5,000 gal/mo.
Water quality & impurities9
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Chlorination byproduct; single results ran 23.5-96.1 ppb, above the 80 MCL at times. | 65.75 ppb | 80 | 2025 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Chlorination byproduct at 75% of the MCL; single results ran 25.7-80.6 ppb. | 44.7 ppb | 60 | 2025 |
| Lead (90th percentile) 0 of 31 samples over the action level; no detectable lead leaving the plant. | 4.091 ppb | 15 (AL) | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) 0 of 31 household samples over the action level. | 0.2965 ppm | 1.3 (AL) | 2025 |
| Nitrate (as N) Range 0.0-2.92; well under the MCL despite farming in the watershed. | 0.437 ppm | 10 | 2025 |
| Fluoride Added for dental health under Ohio's 1969 law; range 0.66-0.89. | 0.88 ppm | 4 | 2025 |
| Turbidity Filter performance indicator; range 0.02-0.50 NTU, 99.9% of samples met the standard. | 0.16 NTU | 1 (TT, <1 NTU) | 2025 |
| PFAS (6 regulated compounds) UCMR5 samples in Apr/Jul/Oct 2024 and Jan 2025; all six regulated PFAS non-detect. | ND ppt | 4 (PFOA/PFOS… | 2024-202… |
| Barium Erosion of natural deposits and drilling or refinery discharges; far under the MCL. | 0.054 ppm | 2 | 2025 |
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 5.6 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
Projects & plans4
Recent and current work
- Water main replacements · 2025 · completed
Wooster Road West from 4th to 27th Street, Frank Street and Wisteria Drive water mains replaced. - Barberton-Norton distribution expansion and Norton elevated storage tank · 2025 · completed
Joint Barberton-Norton project for Brookside Greens off Greenwich Rd; tank finished before the CCR circulated; mains on Wadsworth Rd to SR 21.
Planned or needed
- Barberton Reservoir dam infrastructure improvement · 2026 · planned
Design phase continued through 2025; the project is expected to go out to bid in late 2026. No cost published. - Treatment plant septic-to-pump-station conversion · 2026 · planned
The plant's septic system is no longer serviceable; a replacement pump station was designed in 2025 for 2026 installation.
Supply stress
Both sources rate as susceptible in the city's own CCR: all Ohio surface water is presumed vulnerable, and the backup sand-and-gravel aquifer is shallow with no significant protective layer above it. The 18,062-acre Upper Wolf Creek watershed carries farm runoff and home sewage system risk.
Sewers
Sanitary
Barberton's Sewer Division serves about 13,000 customers (the water side serves ~11,000) with its own treatment plant, industrial pretreatment and collection crews. Sewer is billed on metered water use: $6.43/1,000 gal to 30,000 gal, $16.08/mo minimum. Plant capacity and receiving stream were not found.
Storm
The Sewer Division maintains sanitary, storm and combined sewers, so part of the city is on a combined system. No stormwater utility fee, CSO outfall count, or consent-decree status 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
- 44203 · Barberton66% of residents
Also present in 3 more ZIP codes
- 44314 · Akron0% of residents
- 44319 · Coventry Township and Akron0% of residents
- 44320 · Akron0% 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
Barberton 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 Barberton City.
What the records show about Barberton City
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Barberton City as owned by a local government. It has 13,871 service connections and serves 31,298 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 2023. Its office telephone on EPA's record is 330-848-6744.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Barberton City: corrosion control, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, iron and manganese removal, fluoridation, powdered activated carbon, 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 Barberton City since 2015.
EPA logs no violations of any kind for Barberton City since 2020.
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 Barberton City was 5.6 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
EPA has 8 sampling periods on file for Barberton City 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 Barberton City sent EPA, 12,769 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 162 |
| Unknown material | 8,964 |
| Not lead | 3,643 |
| All lines | 12,769 |
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 5 samples of the water entering the pipes of Barberton City in 2024 to 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 Barberton City (latest sample June 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 Barberton City as sampled, most recently January 2025.
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 Barberton City's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 56.4 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 85.4 µg/L and the highest single sample was 130.4 µg/L, from 132 samples taken from 2012 to 2019. A yearly average over 80 is not itself a violation, because compliance is judged site by site.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 31.3 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 59.6 µg/L and the highest single sample was 113.9 µg/L, from 140 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 56.4 µg/L (2019) | 85.4 µg/L | 130.4 µg/L | 132 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 31.3 µg/L | 59.6 µg/L | 113.9 µg/L | 140 |
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 94 samples was 1.33 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2015; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 0.8 mg/L. No sample was over the limit of 10 mg/L. Nitrate above 10 is unsafe for infants.
Arsenic was not detected in 8 samples (limit 10 µg/L).
| Contaminant | Samples | Highest result | Limit | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate (as nitrogen) | 94 | 1.33 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 8 | not detected | 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: atrazine in 2 of 10 samples, highest 0.18 µg/L (limit 3); barium in 6 of 8 samples, highest 50 µg/L (limit 2,000); mercury in 1 of 8 samples, highest 0.2 µg/L (limit 2). Not detected: alachlor in 10 samples, chromium in 8 samples, cadmium in 8 samples, selenium in 8 samples, thallium in 8 samples.
| Substance | Kind | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atrazine | Farm chemical | 3 µg/L | 10 | 2 of 10 | 0.18 µg/L | 0 |
| Alachlor | Farm chemical | 2 µg/L | 10 | 0 of 10 | not detected | 0 |
| Chromium | Metal | 100 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Cadmium | Metal | 5 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 8 | 6 of 8 | 50 µg/L | 0 |
| Mercury | Metal | 2 µg/L | 8 | 1 of 8 | 0.2 µg/L | 0 |
| Selenium | Metal | 50 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 0 |
| Thallium | Metal | 2 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | 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, 2 of 4,056 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Barberton City tested positive (0.05%); in 2019, the last year on file, 1 of 510 did. E. coli was never found in the 2 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 Barberton City adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at Barberton City.
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 0.77 to 1.07 mg/L across 8 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 not detected in 4 UCMR 5 samples at Barberton City, last sampled in 2025 (the method reports from 9 µg/L).
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.
Algal toxins
Ohio EPA tests for microcystin, a toxin that harmful algal blooms can release, in raw water at the intake and in treated water.
At the intake, microcystin was detected 1 time in 216 raw-water samples, across 1 bloom season (2016); the highest raw-water result was 0.44 µg/L on October 11, 2016. There has been no raw-water detection since 2024.
Microcystin was never detected in treated water (86 samples).
In all, 302 samples from 2016 to 2026, the latest on August 12, 2026.
| Water | Samples | Detections | Highest result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw water, at the intake | 216 | 1 | 0.44 µg/L |
| Treated water | 86 | 0 | not detected |
The ten-day advisory levels for treated water are 0.3 µg/L for children under six and 1.6 µg/L for everyone else. Any detection at the intake triggers more frequent testing until two clean weeks.
Source: Ohio EPA public water system harmful algal bloom monitoring, 2016 to present (HAB data, fetched September 2026).
How well the service area is mapped
The service area drawn on the map for Barberton City comes from the utility's own map.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 26,150 residents are inside the boundary, 84% of the 31,298 people Barberton 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.
On the map
Show this system's territory on the map — 4 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 OH7700411 (EPA ECHO).
Barberton City's own pages: nefcoplanning.org, dam.assets.ohio.gov