Water system
Upper Sandusky City
EPA ID OH8800511 · Wyandot County · 6,698 people served · owned by a local government
Upper Sandusky City treats its own water from Sandusky River (via Upper Sandusky Reservoirs 1 & 2).
The system's record
- Water bodies
- Sandusky River, Upper Sandusky Reservoir 1, Upper Sandusky Reservoir 2
- Raw intakes
- Reservoir
Sandusky River Reservoir - Serves
- 6,698 people · Wyandot County
- EPA ID
- OH8800511
About this area's water
Did you know
- Upper Sandusky ran the same lime-softening water plant from 1890 until the last decade or so - by the time engineers evaluated it, parts were close to 120 years old and it sat in the river's flood plain.
- Its replacement runs ultrafiltration plus reverse osmosis, a train more typical of seawater desalination than of a city of under 7,000, chosen to strip more than 90 percent of the organics that drive disinfection…
- The city still has eight combined sewer overflows discharging to the same Sandusky River it drinks from, and files 4-hour and 7-day public notices each time one runs.
- Anyone can buy water at the city's bulk station, and filling a swimming pool costs $16.50 per 1,000 gallons plus labor.
History2
- 1890City built a lime-softening water treatment plant, sited in the Sandusky River flood plain; it remained in service for well over a century, with components described as nearly 120 years old when…
- undatedCity replaced the 1890 lime-softening plant with a 21,000-square-foot integrated membrane treatment plant (ultrafiltration plus reverse osmosis) designed by AECOM, driven by tightening disinfection…
Source: aecom.com
Treatment & pressure
How it is treated
Raw water is pumped from the Sandusky River into the city's reservoir(s) for storage - the 2024 CCR names Reservoir #2 - and then treated. AECOM describes the replacement plant as a 21,000-square-foot integrated membrane facility combining ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis, achieving greater than…
Source: aecom.comuppersanduskyoh.com
Water pressure
Not published. No pressure figures, hydraulic model, or pressure-zone map could be found in the city's CCRs, water and sewer pages, or public works pages.
What it costs
$10.50 per 1,000 gallons
Typical household bill about $67 a month for water.
City-published schedule: water consumption $10.50 per 1,000 gallons with a $21.00 per month minimum consumption charge, plus a separate monthly meter unit charge - $25.00 for a…
Source: uppersanduskyoh.com
Water quality & impurities10
| Contaminant | Level | Limit | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) Range of detections 33.6 to 83.8 ppb; individual samples exceeded 80 ppb but compliance is on a locational running… | 61.4 ppb | 80 ppb MCL | 2024 |
| Haloacetic acids (HAA5) Range 18.2 to 34.0 ppb. | 26.9 ppb | 60 ppb MCL | 2024 |
| Nitrate Range <1.0 to 3.13 ppm; agricultural runoff in the Sandusky River watershed. | 3.13 ppm | 10 ppm MCL | 2024 |
| Atrazine Runoff from herbicide used on row crops. | 0.083 ppb | 3 ppb MCL | 2024 |
| Fluoride Range 0.87 to 1.22 ppm. | 1.22 ppm | 4 ppm MCL | 2024 |
| Copper Range <0.01 to 0.7 ppm; all 20 samples below the action level. | 0.11 ppm | 1.35 ppm action… | 2024 |
| Lead Range <2.0 to 2.8 ppb; all 20 samples below the action level. | <2.0 ppb | 15.5 ppb action… | 2024 |
| Chlorine Range 1.33 to 1.57 ppm. | 1.48 ppm | 4 ppm MRDL | 2024 |
| Turbidity Highest recorded value 0.14 NTU; 100 percent of samples met the standard. | 0.14 NTU | treatment… | 2024 |
| Total organic carbon (TOC) Range 1.61 to 2.10 mg/L. | 2.10 mg/L | treatment… | 2024 |
Source: uppersanduskyoh.com
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.
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
Recent and current work
- Integrated membrane water treatment plant (ultrafiltration plus reverse osmosis) · unknown · completed
21,000 square feet; replaced the 1890 lime-softening plant sited in the Sandusky River flood plain, to meet disinfection byproduct rules. Designed by AECOM…
Source: aecom.com
Supply stress
The Ohio EPA source water assessment treats all surface waters as susceptible to contamination, and names the specific threats to Upper Sandusky's protection area: agricultural runoff from fields and feedlots, commercial and industrial sources, leaking underground and aboveground storage tanks, home construction runoff, and quarry…
Source: uppersanduskyoh.com
Sewers
Sanitary
City-operated wastewater treatment plant at 155 Indian Mill Drive, discharging to the Sandusky River under US EPA permit OH0020001 and Ohio EPA permit 2PD000039. Sewer is billed at $14.50 per 1,000 gallons with a $29.00 monthly minimum.
Storm
Partly combined. The city has eight combined sewer overflows that discharge to the Sandusky River and its tributaries, and posts 4-hour and 7-day CSO notices plus an annual CSO notification report under the US EPA's January 2018 public notification rule…
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
- 43351 · Upper Sandusky62% 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
Upper Sandusky 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 Upper Sandusky City.
What the records show about Upper Sandusky City
Who runs it
EPA's record describes Upper Sandusky City as owned by a local government. It has 2,935 service connections and serves 6,698 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 419-294-3862.
Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), water system record.
How the water is treated
EPA's treatment table registers these steps for Upper Sandusky City: corrosion control, cartridge filtration, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, dechlorination, iron and manganese removal, fluoridation, membrane filtration, and powdered 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 Upper Sandusky City 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 Upper Sandusky City 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.
EPA has 6 sampling periods on file for Upper Sandusky 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 Upper Sandusky City sent EPA, 2,789 lines are counted.
| Material | Lines |
|---|---|
| Lead | 0 |
| Galvanized, needing replacement | 93 |
| Unknown material | 218 |
| Not lead | 2,478 |
| All lines | 2,789 |
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 6 samples of the water entering the pipes of Upper Sandusky City in 2025 to 2026 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 Upper Sandusky City (latest sample October 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 Upper Sandusky City's samples in 2019, the last year it was sampled, was 55.7 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 63.3 µg/L and the highest single sample was 99.5 µg/L, from 72 samples taken from 2012 to 2019.
For HAA5, the average in the last year sampled was 24.5 µg/L. The worst yearly average was 29.6 µg/L and the highest single sample was 56.6 µg/L, from 70 samples.
| Byproduct | Limit | Latest yearly average | Worst yearly average | Highest sample | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTHM | 80 µg/L | 55.7 µg/L (2019) | 63.3 µg/L | 99.5 µg/L | 72 |
| HAA5 | 60 µg/L | 24.5 µg/L | 29.6 µg/L | 56.6 µg/L | 70 |
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 96 samples was 0.75 mg/L (as nitrogen) in 2013; in 2019, the last year sampled, the highest was 0.27 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) | 96 | 0.75 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 9 samples each.
| Compound | Limit | Samples | Detected in | Highest result | Samples over limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benzene | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| Carbon tetrachloride | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| Trichloroethylene (TCE) | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) | 5 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | not detected | 0 |
| Vinyl chloride | 2 µg/L | 9 | 0 of 9 | 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 12 of 15 samples, highest 0.21 µg/L (limit 3); barium in 7 of 8 samples, highest 19 µg/L (limit 2,000). Not detected: alachlor in 15 samples, chromium in 8 samples, cadmium in 8 samples, mercury 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 | 15 | 12 of 15 | 0.21 µg/L | 0 |
| Alachlor | Farm chemical | 2 µg/L | 15 | 0 of 15 | 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 | 7 of 8 | 19 µg/L | 0 |
| Mercury | Metal | 2 µg/L | 8 | 0 of 8 | not detected | 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, 7 of 673 routine total coliform samples taken in the distribution system at Upper Sandusky City tested positive (1.04%); in 2019, the last year on file, 1 of 84 did. E. coli was found in 1 of 7 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 Upper Sandusky City adjusts the fluoride level to the recommended level for preventing tooth decay.
EPA's treatment table lists fluoridation among the steps at Upper Sandusky City.
Measured fluoride: 0.98 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2019 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.87 to 1.12 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 Upper Sandusky 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 7 times in 223 raw-water samples, across 1 bloom season (2022); the highest raw-water result was 4.3 µg/L on July 26, 2022. There has been no raw-water detection since 2024.
Microcystin was never detected in treated water (85 samples).
In all, 308 samples from 2016 to 2026, the latest on August 25, 2026.
| Water | Samples | Detections | Highest result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw water, at the intake | 223 | 7 | 4.3 µg/L |
| Treated water | 85 | 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 Upper Sandusky City comes from the utility's own map.
Counting the people who live in the ZIP codes it overlaps, this atlas estimates 6,338 residents are inside the boundary, 95% of the 6,698 people Upper Sandusky 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.
Photograph
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 OH8800511 (EPA ECHO).
Upper Sandusky City's own pages: aecom.com
Notable facts: aecom.com, uppersanduskyoh.com, uppersanduskyoh.com
History: aecom.com
Water quality: uppersanduskyoh.com
Capital projects: aecom.com
Rates: uppersanduskyoh.com
Sewers: uppersanduskyoh.com, uppersanduskyoh.com
Treatment: aecom.com, uppersanduskyoh.com
Supply stress: uppersanduskyoh.com