Water system
Little Hocking Water Association, Inc.
EPA ID OH8400212 · Washington County · 9,892 people served
Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. treats its own water from Ohio River Valley Aquifer (own wells, Porterfield wellfield).
The system's record
- Aquifer
- Ohio River Valley Aquifer
- Active wells
- 4
- Serves
- 9,892 people · Washington County
- EPA ID
- OH8400212
About this area's water
Did you know
- Chemours' Washington Works plant sits just 1,300 feet across the Ohio River from Little Hocking's wellfield — and upstream of where the wells draw in river water.
- Little Hocking is the largest rural water system in Washington County, serving about 9,850 people over more than 250 miles of line from four wells.
- The water is very hard — about 385 mg/L as calcium carbonate, or 22.5 grains.
- The association intervened in a West Virginia federal lawsuit against Chemours and argued alongside the plaintiffs before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond to defend a PFAS-discharge injunction.
- Its rate ladder has three usage tiers that are all priced at exactly $12.00 per 1,000 gallons — the tiers are a formality.
Source: littlehockingwater.orgmariettatimes.comlittlehockingwater.org
History6
- 2002Little Hocking Water Association first learned that PFOA (C8) from DuPont's Washington Works plant had contaminated its water supply and system.
- 2007-10-16Chemours (then DuPont) began testing Little Hocking's water for PFOA as part of the granular activated carbon operation — for PFOA only.
- 2007-11-02The granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment plant began operating to filter PFOA out of the water before it enters the distribution system.
- 2009LHWA filed suit against DuPont in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (case 2:09-cv-01081) over PFOA contamination of its roughly 45-acre wellfield, soil and groundwater.
- 2015LHWA and DuPont settled; terms were not made public, but the association describes the result as an ongoing federal court-enforceable settlement after roughly ten years of enforcement litigation.
- 2018-03LHWA advised its users that GenX — Chemours' PFOA replacement — had been detected in the wellfield.
Source: littlehockingwater.orgmariettatimes.comcase-law.vlex.com
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Groundwater from four wells in the Porterfield area drawing on the Ohio River Valley Aquifer, averaging 813,789 gallons per day of production in 2025. The entire supply passes through a granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration plant operating continuously since November 2, 2007, whose specific…
Source: littlehockingwater.org
Water pressure
Not published — the 2025 Water Quality Report gives no psi figure, though it discusses pressure drops from main breaks, hydrant flushing and fires in the context of backflow. The…
Source: littlehockingwater.org
What it costs
$12.00 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $70 a month for water.
Rate schedule effective June 2025, published as a standalone PDF and reprinted in the 2025 CCR: minimum $34.00 per month covering 0-2,000 gallons on a 3/4-inch meter, then $12.00…
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate Range 0.555-0.851 ppm. Well below the MCL; typical of fertilizer, septic and sewage sources. | 0.851 ppm | 10 | 2025 |
| Arsenic Naturally occurring, one twentieth of the MCL. | 0.5 ppb | 10 | 2025 |
| Barium Erosion of natural deposits and discharge of drilling wastes. | 0.0765 ppm | 2 | 2025 |
| Fluoride Range 0.26-1.32 ppm; includes added fluoride. | 0.97 ppm | 4 | 2025 |
| Nickel Range <10 to 0.127; the CCR reports no federal standard for nickel in drinking water. Attributed to leaching from… | 0.127 ppm | none (no MCL or… | 2025 |
| Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range 0-3.6 ppb — about 4% of the MCL, reflecting a groundwater source low in organic precursors. Component species… | 3.0 ppb | 80 | 2025 |
| Total chlorine Range 0.89-1.50 ppm. | 1.26 ppm | 4 (MRDL) | 2025 |
| Lead (90th percentile) None of the 20 samples exceeded the action level. | 4.2 ppb | 15 (action… | 2025 |
| Copper (90th percentile) None of the 20 samples exceeded the action level. | 0.149 ppm | 1.3 (action… | 2025 |
| PFOA and GenX (finished water) Below the Method 537.1 reporting limit of 2 ppt entering distribution, because of GAC treatment. None of the six PFAS… | <2 ppt | 4 (PFOA) / 10… | 2025 |
Source: littlehockingwater.org
EPA compliance record
Lead at the tap: 90th-percentile result 4.2 ppb in 2025 (action level 15 ppb).
EPA record: no health-based violations since 2015.
Projects & plans5
Recent and current work
- Granular activated carbon (GAC) PFAS treatment plant · 2007 · completed
Operating continuously since November 2, 2007 to filter PFOA — and later GenX and other PFAS — from the wellfield before distribution. The 2025 CCR describes… - Lead service line inventory · 2025 · completed
Under the federal Lead and Copper Rule Revisions the association determined it has no lead, no galvanized-requiring-replacement and no lead-status-unknown… - PFAS discharge litigation and Fourth Circuit appeal · 2025 · completed
After finding Chemours was discharging PFOA and GenX to the Ohio River in violation of its Clean Water Act permits, the board authorized intervention in a…
Source: littlehockingwater.orgcase-law.vlex.com
Planned or needed
- Waterline extensions to eliminate contaminated private wells · $8.5 million · 2026 · planned
Funded by Little Hocking's roughly $8.5 million share of the $65 million DuPont Ohio River PFOA settlement distributed April 14, 2026 — the largest share of… - Supplemental or replacement PFAS treatment technology · proposed
The association says it is constantly reviewing research on treatments that could supplement or replace the existing GAC system, which is now roughly 18 years…
Supply stress
High, and for an unusually specific reason. Ohio EPA rates the Ohio River Valley Aquifer wellfield HIGHLY SUSCEPTIBLE to contamination — depth to water in the buried valley aquifer is less than 50 feet below ground surface, only a thin protective layer of silt and clay separates the surface from the aquifer, and significant potential…
Sewers
Sanitary
Little Hocking Water Association is a water-only utility; no sanitary sewer service, rate, or plant appears in its rate schedule, CCR, or website. The CCR repeatedly names septic tanks as a nitrate and coliform source in the service area.
Storm
As a rural water association, Little Hocking Water Association has no stormwater role.
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
- 45742 · Belpre Township and Little Hocking92% of residents
- 45784 · Barlow Township and Vincent77% of residents
- 45724 · Wesley Township and Cutler58% of residents
- 45723 · Troy Township and Coolville14% of residents
Also present in 4 more ZIP codes
- 45714 · Belpre16% of residents
- 45786 · Waterford Township and Waterford3% of residents
- 45711 · Bern Township and Amesville1% of residents
- 45729 · Barlow Township and Fleming0% 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
Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. does not buy water from another system on record; it treats its own source water.
No other system is on record buying water from Little Hocking Water Association, Inc..
What the records show about Little Hocking Water Association, Inc.
Who runs it
EPA's record says Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. has 4,521 service connections and serves 9,892 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 740-989-2181.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Little Hocking Water Association, Inc.: chlorine disinfection, fluoridation, and granular activated carbon.
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 Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. since 2015.
EPA logs no violations of any kind for Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. 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 Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. was 4.2 ppb, under both the current 15 ppb action level and the 10 ppb level that applies from 2027.
The highest result on file is 6.5 ppb, in the period ending December 2020.
EPA has 9 sampling periods on file for Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. since 2016, the first ending in 2016; 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 Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. sent EPA, 5,230 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 0 |
| Unknown material | 0 |
| Not lead | 5,230 |
| All lines | 5,230 |
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 Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. in 2023 and measured 29 PFAS. No PFAS was detected, PFOA and PFOS (federal limit 4 ng/L each) among them.
The system reported PFAS treatment: granular activated carbon.
The system reported potential PFAS sources near its supply.
Ohio EPA's own statewide sampling tested 1 plant of Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. (latest sample July 2020). Not one of the six PFAS tested (PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS) was detected.
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 Little Hocking Water Association, Inc.'s samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 0 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 3.4 µg/L and the highest single sample was 3.4 µg/L, from 37 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 0 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 0 µg/L and the highest single sample was 0 µg/L, from 37 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 0 µg/L (2019) | 3.4 µg/L | 3.4 µg/L | 37 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 0 µg/L | 0 µg/L | 0 µg/L | 37 |
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 8 samples was 0.76 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2018; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 0.56 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 | 0.76 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.
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 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.
Farm chemicals and metals
EPA's file holds results for 8 of the nine herbicides and metals it checked. Detected: barium in 3 of 3 samples, highest 70.5 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 | 3 of 3 | 70.5 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, 4 of 961 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. tested positive (0.42%); in 2019, the last year on file, 0 of 120 did. E. coli was never found in the 4 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 Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at Little Hocking Water Association, Inc.
Measured fluoride: 1.16 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2019 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.91 to 1.16 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 Little Hocking Water Association, Inc., highest 10 µg/L; detections averaged 9.9, 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.
Water and sewer bills
Ohio EPA's 2023 rate survey puts the water bill at Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. for a household using 5,000 gallons a month at $690 a year, about $58 a month.
| Use | Water, per year | Sewer, per year |
|---|---|---|
| 2,500 gallons a month | $407 | not on file |
| 5,000 gallons a month | $690 | not on file |
| 8,000 gallons a month | $1,030 | not on file |
The survey lists it as “Little Hocking Water Association”. These are inside-city rates and annual bills at the use shown.
Source: Ohio EPA 2023 Sewer and Water Rate Survey (Ohio State University, May 2025).
How well the service area is mapped
The service area drawn on the map for Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. comes from the utility's own map.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 8,624 residents are inside the boundary, 87% of the 9,892 people Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. 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 — 8 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 OH8400212 (EPA ECHO).
Little Hocking Water Association, Inc.'s own pages: pfasproject.com, littlehockingwater.org
Notable facts: littlehockingwater.org, mariettatimes.com, littlehockingwater.org
History: littlehockingwater.org, mariettatimes.com, case-law.vlex.com, pfasproject.com
Water quality: littlehockingwater.org
Planned work: mariettatimes.com, littlehockingwater.org
Water pressure: littlehockingwater.org
Capital projects: littlehockingwater.org, case-law.vlex.com
Rates: littlehockingwater.org, littlehockingwater.org
Sewers: littlehockingwater.org, littlehockingwater.org
Treatment: littlehockingwater.org
Supply stress: littlehockingwater.org, pfasproject.com
