Is Athens, OH tap water safe?
The short answer
None of the 3 utilities serving Athens has a result above a legal limit or action level, or a health-based violation since 2016, in EPA’s and Ohio’s records.
Athens PWS, which serves the most people here, has nothing above a health goal in EPA’s and Ohio’s records. That data covers what its report lists, not everything.
A town can be served by more than one utility, and some homes are on private wells. The name on your water bill tells you which is yours, and your ZIP code narrows it down. They are listed by how many people each serves in Athens’s ZIP codes, from EPA’s estimates.
- Open report
Athens PWS
Ohio · serves 32,725 people · about 1,700 in Athens
Nothing in its records is above a health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Sunday Creek Valley Water PWS
Ohio · serves 5,451 people · under 100 in Athens
1 result above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 1.7 ppb, above the health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
- Open report
Le - Ax Regional Water District PWS
Ohio · serves 19,311 people · under 100 in Athens
2 results above the health goal. The worst: Lead at 1.2 ppb, above the health goal.
No health-based violations since 2016
Water testing near Athens
The 3 labs Ohio certifies closest to Athens, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.
SafeSource Water Analytics LLC
McConnelsville, OH · about 30 miles
Certified for bacteria, nitrate
Microbac Laboratories, Inc. - Marietta Division
Marietta, OH · about 36 miles
Certified for nitrate, lead and copper, metals, minerals and other inorganics, PFAS
Ohio Department of Agriculture Consumer Protection Laboratory
Reynoldsburg, OH · about 58 miles
Certified for bacteria
ZIP codes in Athens
Which ZIP codes are in Athens: Census 2020 relationship files. Which utilities serve them, and how many people: EPA SDWIS and EPA’s service area map. Each utility’s results: EPA UCMR 5, EPA SDWIS, and EPA’s and the state’s compliance monitoring, as its report lists them. How they are measured: methodology. Certified labs: Ohio EPA, laboratories certified/accepted to perform analyses on public drinking water; distances from the Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation area gazetteer.
Near Athens
Towns nearby with a page of their own.
What to do next
- Read Athens PWS’s full reportEvery result with its dates, the violations, and the certification claim that handles each finding.Open the report
- Decide if you want a filter at allA filter for taste or chlorine is a preference, not a need. The standards say what each kind can do.NSF/ANSI standards, decoded
- On a private well?No utility tests a well. A certified lab test is the first step.How to test well water