As a precautionary response to COVID-19, Ohio EPA is currently operating with most staff working remotely. If you are working with our staff on a current project and you know the name of the employee you are working with, email them at firstname.lastname@epa.ohio.gov or call them directly. The Agency website has contact information for every district, division, and office. In order to reach us, please contact Ohio EPA’s main phone line at (614) 644-3020 or the main line for the division or office you are trying to reach.

After March 23, our district offices and Central Office will be temporarily closed and will have increasingly limited ability to receive deliveries, plans, etc. All entities are encouraged to submit plans, permit applications, etc., electronically where there are existing avenues to do so, such as the eBusiness Center (eBiz). Please refer to the list of available services on the main eBiz webpage. We encourage you to make use of all that apply, even if you have not used eBiz in the past. Plans under 25 MB can be emailed. For large plans over 25 MB, entities should work with the reviewer/division to upload via LiquidFiles. Directions for submitting docs via LiquidFiles is available on YouTube. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you in advance for your understanding. If you wish to send hard copies of documents to any of Ohio EPA’s district offices, the best method to ensure we receive these documents is to send them via U.S. Mail. Since all offices are closed, deliveries outside of U.S. Mail (FedEx, UPS) will likely be returned because the offices are closed and deliveries cannot be made.

To report a spill or environmental emergency, contact the spill hotline (800) 282-9378 or (614) 224-0946.

Division of Drinking and Ground Waters

About Us
Division Programs
Quick Links
Contacts

What We Do

The Division of Drinking and Ground Waters ensures compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and evaluates potential threats to source waters that supply Ohio's more than 4,800 public drinking water systems. The division has a lead role for statewide ground water protection in cooperation with other state and federal agencies, implements a ground water quality monitoring program and provides technical assistance to the Agency's waste management divisions.

Mission Statement

Protect human health and the environment by characterizing and protecting ground water quality and ensuring that Ohio's public water systems provide adequate supplies of safe drinking water.

Vision Statement

The citizens of Ohio know that their drinking water, whether it comes from wells or surface water, is safe to drink. Everyone in the state can easily obtain information about the quality of drinking water and ground water in their area, their region and the entire state.

DDAGW's Guiding Principles

Guiding Principles

Develop and support innovative, practical and effective solutions
Exercise sound, professional judgement in decision-making
Actively use our mission, vision and guiding principles in our decision-making
Continually strive to improve the quality of our work
Recognize quality work in each other and our customers
Provide consistent, timely service to internal and external customers
Treat each other and our customers with courtesy and respect
Practice basic principles of positive human interaction, cooperation, teamwork and honesty
Encourage employee pride, self-improvement and self-motivation
Utilize all of the training and tools available to effectively perform our job duties
Actively participate in the Agency's strategic management process
Integrate and promote pollution prevention activities
Support and promote environmental education for the public

About the Drinking Water Program

The Division of Drinking and Ground Water's (DDAGW) Drinking Water Program manages the federally delegated drinking water program and implements both state and federal Safe Drinking Water statutes and rules adopted under these laws. To carry out the program, DDAGW:

Develops rules which match U.S. EPA regulations and are at least as stringent as the federal rules;
Conducts inspections of water treatment plants, storage and distribution systems to ensure proper construction and operation;
Informs Public Water Systems (PWSs) of their monitoring and reporting requirements under the law;
Tracks systems' compliance with rules by reviewing their self-monitoring reports and the analytical results of their water sampling;
Takes appropriate enforcement action for failure to comply with Ohio's safe drinking water laws and regulations;
Collects and tracks data regarding various activities and reports appropriately to the federal government.

Drinking Water Staff also:

Inspect and certify laboratories to ensure proper analysis of drinking water samples;
Review plans for new or modified PWSs, provides technical assistance to PWSs to help them operate properly and achieve and maintain compliance;
Evaluate water plants to determine which classification of certified operator is required to properly operate the plant;
Administer the water and wastewater operator certification program;
Respond to emergencies, such as chemical spills or floods which either threaten a source of water or causes a treatment plant to be out of operation;
Respond to and investigate complaints of contaminated drinking water or water borne disease.

About the Ground Water Program

The Division of Drinking and Ground Water's (DDAGW) Ground Water Program:

Oversees implementation of the Ohio Ground Water Protection and Management Strategy, which serves as a guide to all state programs with ground water related responsibilities to help ensure coordinated and comprehensive protection and management of the state's ground water resources;
Manages and promotes participation in Ohio's Source Water Assessment and Protection (SWAP) Program, which helps to ensure the present and future availability of safe drinking water for public water system consumers;
Manages the state's Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program, which regulates the types and amounts of waste that can be injected into underground geologic formations;
Monitors through sampling and analysis the quality of ground water found in the various geologic regions around Ohio;
Conducts specialized monitoring studies to identify ground water contamination problems, determines cause and effect relationships and recommends strategies for preventing contamination;
Works with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Ohio EPA's Division of Surface Water to identify, quantify and remediate the adverse impacts on ground water caused by non-point source activities, such as feed lot operations and agricultural applications of fertilizer and pesticides;
Administers the State Coordinating Committee on Ground Water to enhance coordination among state agencies.

In addition to the above mentioned direct activities, the Division's Ground Water Program acts as a consultant to other divisions in the Agency on all matters relating to ground water. This work is carried out under memorandums of understanding, which spell out what work will be done by each party and the amount of funding that the contracting division will provide the Ground Water Program. The contracting divisions are:

Additionally, technical assistance is provided to other agency and state programs (e.g., the Division of Surface Water, the Drinking Water Program, the Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations [BUSTR]), industry, public officials and the general public on various ground water programs, ground water quality, hydrogeology and other related information.

Programs in the Division of Drinking and Ground Waters

The Division of Drinking and Ground Waters oversees several programs that protect Ohio's drinking and ground waters. They include:

Drinking Water Source Protection (Source Water Assessment and Protection Program)

Source Water Assessment and Protection

Also known as "Wellhead Protection" and "Drinking Water Source Protection," the Source Water Assessment and Protection (SWAP) Program assists public water suppliers with protecting sources of drinking water (streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs and aquifers) from contamination.

Public Drinking Water Supply Beneficial Use

The collaboration between the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act works to ensure public water systems produce safe drinking water using only conventional treatment, resulting in reduced financial cost to communities and minimized risk to human health.

Enforcement

To learn more about enforcement actions taken by the Division of Drinking and Ground Waters for violations of the Safe Drinking Water Rules, click here.

Ground Water Support (Technical Guidance Manual)

Ground Water Support to Ohio EPA Programs

Provides technical assistance to the public, regulated community, other governmental entities and other Ohio EPA Divisions concerning ground water related issues

Technical Guidance Manual for Hydrogeologic Investigations and Ground Water Monitoring (TGM)

Identifies technical considerations for performing hydrogeologic investigations and ground water monitoring at potential or known ground water pollution sources

Ground Water Quality Characterization

Ground Water Quality Characterization Program

Characterizes ambient ground water quality conditions, identifies ground water contamination, and recommends strategies for preventing contamination

Operator and Laboratory Certifications

Laboratory Certification

Locate a certified laboratory and get guidance about how to become a certified laboratory including resources and reporting

Operator Certification

Certifies water and wastewater system operators to ensure public water and wastewater systems are operated by properly trained and qualified individuals

Public Water Systems