Niles City

• Meander Creek Reservoir runs about seven miles long across 2,010 acres with 40 miles of shoreline, holding roughly 10 billion gallons at the top of the spillway — plus about another billion gallons held back by an…
• The Mahoning Valley Sanitary District owns 7,510 acres around its reservoir, 5,500 of them reforested with 4 million evergreen trees and ringed by 35 miles of fencing.
• MVSD puts the cost of its water at about two-tenths of one cent per gallon, and serves roughly 220,000 people with 53 full-time employees.
• Niles was founded in 1806 by James Heaton, who built one of Ohio's first iron works and a grist mill and dam on Mosquito Creek — the same creek that helped flood the town in 1913.
• In one year, 2025, Niles crews patched 106 water main breaks — about one every three and a half days across roughly 100 miles of pipe.

Source: meanderwater.orgmeanderwater.orgremarkableohio.org

• 1806James Heaton founded the settlement that became Niles, building a log home, and in 1806-07 a grist mill, dam and mill race on Mosquito Creek; he ran one of Ohio's earliest iron works. He platted 54…
• 1913The Great Flood began Easter Sunday, March 23; the Mahoning River and Mosquito Creek flooded Niles. Ohio's statewide losses were 428 confirmed dead, 20,000 homes destroyed and damage exceeding $300…
• 1920A petitioning effort began in the Mahoning Valley to secure a new regional water source.
• 1925Youngstown and Niles settled as the founding member cities of the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District after efforts to unite the whole valley failed.
• 1929-1932The Mineral Ridge Dam was built on Meander Creek, impounding Meander Creek Reservoir, at a total project cost of about $9.2 million.
• 1932MVSD began officially delivering water to Youngstown and Niles on July 9.

Source: cityofnilesoh.goven.wikipedia.orgmeanderwater.org

How it is treated

Niles buys finished water from the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, which draws from Meander Creek Reservoir and treats it at its plant near Mineral Ridge. MVSD treatment includes chemical addition for softening, disinfection, fluoridation, taste-and-odor control, mixing, settling, filtration and…

Source: thecityofniles.commeanderwater.orgthecityofniles.com

Water pressure

Not published. The city notes only that boil advisories are issued when water mains lose adequate pressure — from a break or a planned repair — because depressurized lines can…

Source: thecityofniles.com

$5.25 per 1,000 gallons

Typical household bill about $30 a month for water.

2026 rates: water inside the city $0.00525 per gallon ($5.25 per 1,000 gal); water outside the city $0.00788 per gallon ($7.88 per 1,000 gal); sewer $0.0113 per gallon ($11.30 per…

Source: thecityofniles.comthecityofniles.com

Source: thecityofniles.com

EPA compliance record

Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0.8 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).

EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.

2 violations of any kind logged since 2020, 2 of them paperwork (monitoring, reporting, public notice or consumer report).

EPA compliance record · Mahoning Valley Sanitary District (treats the water)

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

• 2025 distribution system repair and renewal program · 2025 · completed
  106 water main breaks repaired, 2 leaking/inoperable valves repaired, 16 hydrants replaced, 174 curb boxes replaced, Johnny Cake Road water line replaced, 7 of…
• Lead service line inventory and identification (LSLI) · 2024-2025 · under construction
  Nearly 400 service lines potholed in 2025 to confirm materials; the public inventory is hosted at pws-ptd.120wateraudit.com/nilesoh. Replacement scope and cost…

Source: thecityofniles.com

Planned or needed

• Mineral Ridge Dam Rehabilitation Project (MVSD) · planned
  Ohio EPA completed a Limited Environmental Review and issued a Finding of No Significant Impact, concluding no Supplemental Study or Environmental Assessment…
• Phase III Valve Improvement Project (MVSD) · planned
  Listed among MVSD's current projects with a Limited Environmental Review document; scope, cost and timeline not published.

Source: meanderwater.org

Meander Creek Reservoir is a large, secure supply — the Niles CCR puts its capacity at 11 billion gallons, and MVSD describes about 10 billion gallons at the top of the spillway plus roughly another billion held by an inflatable bladder system, across an 86.5-square-mile drainage basin. MVSD holds an agreement with the US Army Corps of…

Source: thecityofniles.commeanderwater.orgmeanderwater.org

Sanitary

The City of Niles Sewer and Wastewater Department, under superintendent Jason Carcelli, maintains the sanitary mains and operates the city's wastewater treatment plant, handling domestic and commercial waste. Sewer is billed volumetrically at $0.0113 per gallon ($11.30 per 1,000 gallons) in 2026, more than twice the in-city water rate.…

Storm

The same department handles storm sewer cleaning and repairs; both sanitary sewage and stormwater are collected in the city's system and conveyed to the wastewater plant. The city publishes a Stormwater Management Plan, a Storm Water Pollution Prevention…

Source: thecityofniles.comthecityofniles.com

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