Water system
Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area
EPA ID OH8301803 · Warren County · 950 people served
Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area buys its water from Springboro.
The system's record
Also connected to Franklin Public Water System (Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer (own wells)), used as a secondary or emergency supply.
- Aquifer
- Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer
- Active wells
- 6
- Serves
- 19,263 people · Warren County
- EPA ID
- OH8301412
About this area's water Springboro
Did you know
- Springboro has not run its own water plant since 1990 — Veolia North America has held the operate-maintain-manage contract for 36 years, and the technical contact printed on the city's water quality report is a Veolia…
- The emergency interconnections with Franklin and Warren County are flushed every six months, pushing roughly 8,000 gallons in each direction purely to keep the pipes ready.
- Springboro's 2024 UCMR 5 results put PFOA and PFOS above the new 4.0 parts-per-trillion federal limits, even though the system is fully in compliance today because those limits have not yet taken effect.
- The 2025 water quality report carries a violation notice — not about the water, but about paperwork: the city missed the July 1, 2025 deadline to certify to Ohio EPA that it had mailed lead service line notices, and…
History6
- 1988U.S. EPA designates the Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer a federal Sole Source Aquifer (May 1988), subjecting federally funded projects over the aquifer and its recharge zone to EPA review.
- 1990Veolia North America (through its predecessor) begins an operate/maintain/manage contract for Springboro's water system; the contract later expanded to the wastewater plant and collection system and…
- 2001Ohio's source water assessment rates Springboro's aquifer as having HIGH susceptibility to contamination, citing the aquifer's shallow depth (less than five feet below ground surface) and significant…
- 2006Springboro WWTP undergoes a major plant upgrade (Ohio EPA NPDES fact sheet).
- 2024Springboro PWS samples under the fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5); PFOA and PFOS are found above the 4.0 ppt federal MCLs adopted in 2024.
- 2025The system fails to demonstrate to Ohio EPA that it delivered the required annual lead / galvanized-requiring-replacement / unknown service line notifications by July 1, 2025; the missing…
Source: cityofspringboro.comcityofspringboro.commcdwater.org
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Six municipal wells draw from the buried-valley sand-and-gravel aquifer associated with the Great Miami River. All pumped water goes to the city treatment plant at 3049 Pennyroyal Road, where it is filtered and treated with chlorine and fluoride; Veolia describes the plant as a 7-MGD anthracite…
Source: cityofspringboro.comcityofspringboro.comveolianorthamerica.com
Water pressure
Not published. Neither the 2025 or 2017 CCR, the city rate schedule, nor the Ohio EPA NPDES documents state a system psi figure or describe pressure zones.
What it costs
$5.61 per 1,000 gallons
City of Springboro posted Water & Sewer Rates, effective April 2026. Water: $15.00 per month base charge plus a tiered volume rate — $6.09 per 1,000 gal for 1-1,999 gal, $6.15 for…
Source: cityofspringboro.com
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| PFOA UCMR 5 entry-point result reported in the 2025 CCR; above the 4.0 ppt federal MCL adopted in 2024. No violation today… | 5.49 (range… ppt | 4 (MCL… | 2024 |
| PFOS UCMR 5 entry-point result; above the 4.0 ppt federal MCL. | 4.91 (range… ppt | 4 (MCL… | 2024 |
| PFHxS The CCR's 'level found' column for this row reads 0.3, which is inconsistent with the printed range; the range is… | 3.00-3.22… ppt | 10 (MCL) | 2024 |
| PFBS UCMR 5 entry-point result. | 0-3.89 (range… ppt | no individual… | 2024 |
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range of detections 21.2-30.5 ppb. | 21.2 ppb | 80 | 2025 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) Range 4.9-4.9 ppb. | 4.9 ppb | 60 | 2025 |
| Total Chlorine Range 0.86-1.35 ppm. | 1.22 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2025 |
| Fluoride Range 0.82-1.26 ppm; the city fluoridates. | 1.19 ppm | 4 | 2025 |
| Barium | 0.154 ppm | 2 | 2025 |
| Nitrate | 0.69 ppm | 10 | 2025 |
Source: cityofspringboro.comcityofspringboro.com
EPA compliance record · Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 0.7 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).
EPA compliance record · Springboro (treats the water)
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 4.4 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 & plans1
Planned or needed
- Water system improvements in the 2024-2028 five-year capital improvements plan · $12 million · 2024-2028 · planned
Reported by the Journal-News / Dayton Daily News coverage of the council vote adopting the 2024 budget and five-year capital plan. The city does not publish a…
Source: journal-news.com
Supply stress
Springboro's entire supply is a single shallow aquifer, and the city's own 2025 CCR says so plainly: the buried valley aquifer it draws from is 'highly susceptible to surface contamination.' Ohio's 2001 source water assessment rated susceptibility high because the aquifer sits less than five feet below ground surface with significant…
Source: cityofspringboro.comcityofspringboro.commcdwater.org
Sewers
Sanitary
City-owned Springboro WWTP at 275 West Mill Street, average design flow 4.0 MGD, last given a major upgrade in 2006. Treatment train: influent pumping, bar screen, grit removal, oxidation ditch, separate-stage biological nitrification, secondary clarification, tertiary filtration and ultraviolet disinfection. It discharges to an unnamed…
Storm
The city bills a residential Storm Water Management Program charge of $4.00 on the utility bill.
Source: dam.assets.ohio.govveolianorthamerica.comcityofspringboro.com
Sourcesverified
Compiled from the utility's own reports and public records, then independently re-checked against primary sources.
Present in 1 ZIP code
Serves
No ZIP code has Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area on record as its main water supplier.
Also present in 1 more ZIP code
- 45036 · Lebanon3% 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
Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area buys its water from Springboro.
No other system is on record buying water from Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area.
What the records show about Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area
Who runs it
EPA's record says Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area has 352 service connections and serves 950 people.
EPA classes it as a community water system, one that serves the same residents all year.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area buys water that Springboro treats first, so the steps that count are the seller's. EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Springboro: chlorine disinfection, fluoridation, 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 Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area 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 Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area was 0.7 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
The highest result on file is 7.1 ppb, in the period ending December 2021.
EPA has 7 sampling periods on file for Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area 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 Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area sent EPA, 354 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 0 |
| Not lead | 354 |
| All lines | 354 |
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 Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area buys is treated by Springboro, so the results below are Springboro's.
EPA's fifth national round of testing (UCMR 5) took 3 samples of the water entering the pipes of Springboro in 2024 to 2025 and measured 29 PFAS.
The highest PFOA or PFOS result, 6.9 ng/L, is at or above the federal limit of 4 ng/L that EPA set in 2024. Systems have until 2029 to comply, and in May 2026 EPA proposed letting systems apply for two more years. One sample over the limit is not a violation: compliance is judged on a running annual average.
The highest PFAS results were PFOA 6.9 ng/L, PFOS 5.7 ng/L, and PFBS 4.2 ng/L.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Springboro (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 Springboro as sampled, most recently May 2025.
| Compound | Highest result | Federal limit |
|---|---|---|
| PFOA | 6.9 ng/L | 4 ng/L |
| PFOS | 5.7 ng/L | 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 Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 20.2 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 20.2 µg/L and the highest single sample was 22.7 µg/L, from 14 samples taken from 2013 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 3.1 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 9 µg/L and the highest single sample was 12.5 µg/L, from 14 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 20.2 µg/L (2019) | 20.2 µg/L | 22.7 µg/L | 14 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 3.1 µg/L | 9 µg/L | 12.5 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
The water Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area buys is treated by Springboro, so the results below are Springboro's.
Nitrate: the highest of 8 samples was 1.96 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2012; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 0.5 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) | 8 | 1.96 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 Springboro.
Solvents and fuels
The water Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area buys is treated by Springboro, so the results below are Springboro'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 3 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | 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 Springboro.
Farm chemicals and metals
The water Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area buys is treated by Springboro, so the results below are Springboro's.
EPA's file holds results for 8 of the nine herbicides and metals it checked. Detected: barium in 2 of 3 samples, highest 202 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: atrazine, alachlor, chromium, 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 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Cadmium | Metal | 5 µg/L | 3 | 0 of 3 | not detected | 0 |
| Barium | Metal | 2,000 µg/L | 3 | 2 of 3 | 202 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 of Springboro.
Bacteria in the pipes
From 2012 to 2019, 0 of 191 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area tested positive (0%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 24 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 Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area buys its water from Franklin Public Water System, 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 Springboro, which treats the water Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area buys.
Measured fluoride: 0.99 mg/L on average leaving the plants of Springboro, which supplies Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area, in 2019 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.99 to 1.15 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 not detected in 2 UCMR 5 samples at Springboro, which supplies Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area, 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.
How well the service area is mapped
EPA estimated the service area of Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area with a computer model rather than drawing it from the utility's map, so its edges are approximate.
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 — 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 OH8301803 (EPA ECHO).
Warren Co. Pennyroyal Area's own pages: softprowatersystems.com, water.warrencountyohio.gov
