Water system
Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge
EPA ID OH7803503 · Trumbull County · 2,858 people served
Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge buys its water from Niles City.
The system's record
- Water bodies
- Meander Creek Reservoir, Berlin Reservoir
- Raw intakes
- Meander Creek Reservoir
Berlin Reservoir - EPA ID
- OH7801811
About this area's water
Did you know
- Mineral Ridge's water passes through two resellers before it reaches a tap: the county district buys from Niles and Youngstown, and both of those cities buy the same water from the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District.
- The dam holding back Meander Creek Reservoir is itself named the Mineral Ridge Dam - an earthen structure finished in 1932, 60 feet high and 3,480 feet long at its crest, impounding about 11 billion gallons (62,000…
- MVSD owns 5,500 acres around the reservoir, enclosed by 35 miles of fence and reforested with four million evergreens, to keep its watershed clean.
- The community's namesake industry was iron, not water: black band ore found beneath its coal seams in the 1850s was sold nationally as 'American Scotch Pig.'
- Mineral Ridge gave up its village charter in 1917 and has been unincorporated ever since, yet the water system still carries its name - and now spans two counties, Trumbull and Mahoning.
History5
- 1830sCoal mining begins at Mineral Ridge; in the mid-1850s John Lewis, superintendent of the Mineral Ridge Coal Mines, finds black band iron ore beneath the coal, later marketed as 'American Scotch Pig'…
- 1917Mineral Ridge disincorporates as mining declines; it is an unincorporated community and census-designated place today, straddling Weathersfield Township in Trumbull County and Austintown Township in…
- 1926The Mahoning Valley Sanitary District is formed by Youngstown and Niles.
- 1929-1932The Mineral Ridge Dam and Meander Creek Reservoir are built at a cost of roughly $9.2 million; MVSD begins water service in 1932. This reservoir is the ultimate source for the water resold to Mineral…
- 2026On July 15, 2026 an injector failure interrupted the chlorine feed at MVSD's primary feed point for about 15 minutes, so treated water did not meet the minimum disinfectant contact time. Trumbull…
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Mineral Ridge buys finished water; it treats none of its own. EPA's facility inventory shows two active consecutive connections, from Niles City PWS (OH7802403) and Youngstown City PWS (OH5002303), both surface water, and both of those cities draw from the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District's…
Source: data.epa.govco.trumbull.oh.usmeanderwater.org
Water pressure
No psi figure is published. The local system is served by the three-pump Main Street pump station and a 0.3-million-gallon elevated tank.
Source: data.epa.govdata.epa.gov
What it costs
Not published. The Trumbull County Sanitary Engineer's billing page states only that rates 'have been established by the Trumbull County Board of Commissioners…
Source: co.trumbull.oh.us
Water quality & impurities1
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (90th percentile) EPA's lead and copper rule dataset records a 90th-percentile lead of zero for both 2025 monitoring periods… | non-detect ppb | 15 (action… | 2025 |
Source: data.epa.govdata.epa.gov
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
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.
Projects & plans1
Recent and current work
- Water service line survey
The Trumbull County Sanitary Engineer posts a 'Water Service Line Survey' PDF on its site.
Source: co.trumbull.oh.us
Supply stress
Mineral Ridge sits at the end of a resale chain and owns no source of its own: the county district buys from Niles and Youngstown, which both buy from the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, which draws from Meander Creek Reservoir. That leaves it exposed to upstream treatment problems as much as to bulk-rate changes - the July 2026…
Sewers
Sanitary
The publicly owned plant serving the Mineral Ridge area is the Meander WPCF, NPDES permit OH0045721, at 3264 State Route 46, Mineral Ridge, Trumbull County - a major individual NPDES permit with a 4 MGD design flow and both pretreatment and biosolids programs.
Storm
Not documented. No storm sewer arrangement for Mineral Ridge appears in any reachable county source.
Source: echodata.epa.govechodata.epa.gov
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
- 44440 · Weathersfield Township and Mineral Ridge68% of residents
Also present in 1 more ZIP code
- 44515 · Austintown Township and Youngstown1% 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
Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge buys its water from Niles City, which buys from Mahoning Valley Sanitary District.
No other system is on record buying water from Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge.
What the records show about Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge
Who runs it
EPA's record says Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge has 1,154 service connections and serves 2,858 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 330-675-7860.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge buys water that Mahoning Valley Sanitary District treats first, so the steps that count are the seller's. EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Mahoning Valley Sanitary District: chloramine disinfection, corrosion control, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, iron and manganese removal, fluoridation, lime softening, 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 Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge since 2015.
EPA logs no violations of any kind for Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge 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 Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge 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.
The highest result on file is 5.8 ppb, in the period ending December 2019.
EPA has 13 sampling periods on file for Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge since 2016, the first ending in 2017; 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 Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge sent EPA, 1,093 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 0 |
| Not lead | 1,093 |
| All lines | 1,093 |
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
The water Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge buys is treated by Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, so the results below are Mahoning Valley Sanitary District's.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Mahoning Valley Sanitary District (latest sample May 2021). The highest result was PFOS at 10.9 ppt (ppt is the same unit as ng/L), against Ohio's action level of 70 ppt. Those action levels are the ones Ohio EPA used for the survey; the 2024 federal limit for PFOA and PFOS is 4 ng/L.
Ohio EPA's current sampling status map lists 1 plant of Mahoning Valley Sanitary District as sampled, most recently July 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 Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 55.7 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 61.9 µg/L and the highest single sample was 100 µg/L, from 56 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 23.5 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 36 µg/L and the highest single sample was 48.9 µg/L, from 56 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 55.7 µg/L (2019) | 61.9 µg/L | 100 µg/L | 56 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 23.5 µg/L | 36 µg/L | 48.9 µg/L | 56 |
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
The water Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge buys is treated by Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, so the results below are Mahoning Valley Sanitary District's.
Nitrate: the highest of 187 samples was 0.71 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2013; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 0.47 mg/L. No sample was over the limit of 10 mg/L. Nitrate 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) | 187 | 0.71 mg/L | 10 mg/L | 0 |
| Arsenic | 3 | 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 of Mahoning Valley Sanitary District.
Solvents and fuels
The water Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge buys is treated by Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, so the results below are Mahoning Valley Sanitary District's.
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 13 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 13 | 0 of 13 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 13 | 0 of 13 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 13 | 0 of 13 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 13 | 0 of 13 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 13 | 0 of 13 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 13 | 0 of 13 | 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 of Mahoning Valley Sanitary District.
Farm chemicals and metals
The water Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge buys is treated by Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, so the results below are Mahoning Valley Sanitary District's.
EPA's file holds results for 8 of the nine herbicides and metals it checked. Detected: atrazine in 3 of 12 samples, highest 0.21 µg/L (limit 3); barium in 3 of 4 samples, highest 13 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: alachlor in 12 samples, chromium in 4 samples, cadmium in 4 samples, mercury in 4 samples, selenium in 4 samples, thallium in 4 samples.
| Substance | Kind | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atrazine | Farm chemical | 3 µg/L | 12 | 3 of 12 | 0.21 µg/L | 0 |
| Alachlor | Farm chemical | 2 µg/L | 12 | 0 of 12 | not detected | 0 |
| Chromium | Metal | 100 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Cadmium | Metal | 5 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 4 | 3 of 4 | 13 µg/L | 0 |
| Mercury | Metal | 2 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Selenium | Metal | 50 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | not detected | 0 |
| Thallium | Metal | 2 µg/L | 4 | 0 of 4 | 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 of Mahoning Valley Sanitary District.
Bacteria in the pipes
From 2012 to 2019, 1 of 497 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge tested positive (0.2%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 48 did. E. coli was never found in the 1 sample 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 Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge buys its water from Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, a system that adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, which treats the water Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge buys.
Measured fluoride: 1.01 mg/L on average leaving the plants of Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, which supplies Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge, in 2019 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.87 to 1.12 mg/L across 4 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.
Algal toxins
The water Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge buys is treated by Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, so the results below are Mahoning Valley Sanitary District's.
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 2 times in 220 raw-water samples, across 2 bloom seasons (2021 to 2023); the highest raw-water result was 0.335 µg/L on November 9, 2021. There has been no raw-water detection since 2024.
Microcystin was never detected in treated water (78 samples).
In all, 298 samples from 2016 to 2026, the latest on August 24, 2026.
| Water | Samples | Detections | Highest result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw water, at the intake | 220 | 2 | 0.335 µg/L |
| Treated water | 78 | 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
EPA estimated the service area of Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge 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 3,366 residents are inside the boundary, 118% of the 2,858 people Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge 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 — 2 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 OH7803503 (EPA ECHO).
Trumbull Co. - Mineral Ridge's own pages: vindyarchives.com, meanderwater.org
Notable facts: en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, meanderwater.org, data.epa.gov
History: en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, meanderwater.org, co.trumbull.oh.us
Water quality: data.epa.gov, data.epa.gov
Water pressure: data.epa.gov, data.epa.gov
Capital projects: co.trumbull.oh.us
Rates: co.trumbull.oh.us
Sewers: echodata.epa.gov, echodata.epa.gov
Treatment: data.epa.gov, co.trumbull.oh.us, meanderwater.org
Supply stress: meanderwater.org, en.wikipedia.org, co.trumbull.oh.us, co.trumbull.oh.us
