About the Program

In general, the Division of Drinking and Ground Waters administers Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) programs and the Division of Surface Waters administers the Clean Water Act (CWA) programs.  However, the two divisions share common goals with regard to assessing and protecting sources of drinking water. They have been collaborating since 2002  to strengthen the connection between the CWA and SDWA with more robust assessments of Ohio source waters. 

Ohio EPA introduced assessment methodology for the Public Drinking Water Supply (PDWS) Beneficial Use in 2006.  The goal is for Ohio public water systems to produce safe drinking water using only conventional treatment, resulting in reduced financial cost to communities and minimized risk to human health.

Beneficial Use and the Clean Water Act

Under the Clean Water Act, all of Ohio’s surface waters are designated with specific beneficial uses.  How is the water used? Do people swim or boat in it (recreational use)?  Do they drink it (public drinking water supply use)? Do they eat the fish they catch (fish consumption)?  Do you expect to see aquatic life such as certain bugs and fish (aquatic life use)? Ohio applies the public drinking water supply (PDWS) beneficial use to all waters within 500 yards of an active public drinking water supply intake and all publically owned lakes.

For each type of beneficial use there is standard for how clean the water needs to be to support each beneficial use (water quality standards and criteria).  Tthese standards are used as a "measuring stick" to indictae if waters are meeting or not meeting expectations.  Ohio EPA has developed a set of water quality criteria for protection of the PDWS beneficial use and applies the criteria to water quality data collected in the raw source water. 

The Division of Surface Water recently revised the water quality standards and combined all of the criteria for water supply into a new rule:

OAC 3745-1-40 Water Quality Criteria for Water Supply Use Designation

If the waters do not meet expectations, it is considered impaired for that beneficial use. The Ohio EPA must then take action to meet water quality standards.  This action typically involves development of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). 

Recent Progress – Inclusion in the 2008 Integrated Water Quality Report

For the first time, human health impacts related to drinking water were included in Ohio EPA’s 2008 Integrated Water Quality Report.  The Agency is required to report biennially on the status of the state’s surface waters and develop a list of waters which do not meet the established goals (impaired).  Under the Clean Water Act, once impaired waters are identified the state must take action to improve them. Typically, the actions include developing restoration plans (total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), water quality based permits, and nonpoint pollution control measures. As such, this report is an important document that provides information and direction to much of the State’s work in water quality planning, monitoring, financial and technical assistance, permitting, and nonpoint source programs.

Sufficient data were available to evaluate about half of the drinking water source waters for nitrate. Impaired waters were the Maumee River (the systems for the communities of Defiance, Napoleon, McClure and Bowling Green and the Campbell Soup system) and a portion of the Sandusky River (Fremont). Some waters were identified for a watch list; all were located in the northwestern and central parts of the state. It is difficult and expensive to remove nitrate from drinking water, so no Ohio surface water systems currently use treatment specific for nitrate removal. Ohio public water systems rely on blending the surface water with other sources such as ground water, selective pumping from the stream to avoid high nitrate levels by using off-stream storage in upground reservoirs, or issue public notice advisories warning sensitive population to avoid drinking the water while nitrate levels are high.

Pesticides could be evaluated for only about one-quarter of the drinking water source waters. Two of the 35 assessed waters were identified as impaired, one in Brown County (Mt. Orab) and the other in Miami County (Piqua). Thirteen waters were identified on a watch list due to of elevated atrazine. These areas coincide with the predominantly agricultural lands of western and northwestern Ohio.

Publications and Fact Sheets

Ohio EPA Division of Surface Waters 2008 Integrated Water Quality Report, Section H (Public Drinking Water Supply Beneficial Use)  [PDF] Contains detailed descriptions of the 2008 assessments, summary tables for each public water system, maps showing public drinking water supply waters, and the four impaired waters.

Public Drinking Water Supply Beneficial Use Assessment Summary Report for the Sandusky River Watershed (2006)  [PDF]

Ohio EPA Public Drinking Water Supply (PDWS) Beneficial Use Assessment Methodology [PDF]

Maps

Ohio Watershed Assessment Units that contain at least one active Drinking Water Intake [PDF]

Ohio Watershed Assessment Units with Nitrate Indicator Results [PDF]

Ohio Watershed Assessment Units with Pesticide Indicator Results [PDF]

Contact

Amy Klei (amyjo.klei@epa.state.oh.us), Ohio EPA Division of Drinking and Ground Waters, or (614) 644-2752