Division of Drinking and Ground Waters

Ohio EPA regulates public water systems that have at least 15 service connections or serve 25 or more people at least 60 days per year. Private water systems are regulated by local health departments. District staff in the Division of Drinking and Ground Waters perform the following duties:

Drinking Water

• Review and recommend plans for public drinking water systems, including acceptability of well sites.
• Provide technical assistance to operators, designers and engineers of drinking water systems.
• Inspect public drinking water systems to locate and eliminate potential health hazards.
• Assure public drinking water systems conduct required sampling and have samples analyzed in state-certified laboratories.
• Collect, maintain and review records of drinking water treatment plant operations, laboratory data and certifications, plan approvals, correspondence and public notifications.
• Investigate citizen complaints.
• Initiate enforcement actions for violations of state laws and regulations.

Ground Water

• Collect samples at a statewide network of monitoring sites to maintain ongoing ground water quality data.
• Conduct specialized monitoring to identify ground water problems; determine cause and effect relationships between those problems and pollution sources; and recommend how to improve water quality and prevent contamination.
• Evaluate permit applications for solid, hazardous and infectious waste facilities and wastewater dischargers.
• Provide technical assistance related to identification and cleanup of ground water contamination at hazardous waste sites.
• Investigate complaints about ground water contamination.
• Provide technical assistance on ground water issues to municipalities, industries, the public and other Ohio EPA divisions.
• Promote and review wellhead protection programs.
• Comment on proposed underground injection control permits issued by Central Office.