About This Report
The residents of Erie County have been supplied with a drinking water source that so often exceeds the guidelines mandated by the Ohio EPA. However, contaminants can become discharged into source drinking water, which is solely supplied by Lake Erie. The majority of such results flow into sources, as the body of water becomes exposed to substances that result from human or animal activity. There are five main categories of contaminants:
- Microbial Contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.
- Inorganic Contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.
- Pesticides and Herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses.
- Organic Chemical Contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems.
- Radioactive Contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.
Residents can expect to find small amounts of these substances in their drinking water, but not nearly enough to cause substantial harm to those who utilize it. The US EPA provides maximum levels of these contaminants in order to consider water sources to be safe; these levels were used for the analysis done by this project.
The latest edition of the Erie County Water Quality Report has received the rating posted after thorough review with such criteria in mind. A rating of 5 suggests that the water quality far exceeds the limitations outlined by both Ohio and United States regulations, while a rating of 1 implies serious health risks to wildlife and humans alike. A rating of 3 suggests there are more contaminants than preferred, but levels are still safe for consumption.
Below is a key for the data provided on this page.
- AL - Action Level: The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a system must follow.
- MCL - Maximum Contaminant Level: The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.
- MCLG - Maximum Contaminant Level Goal: The of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety.
- MRDL - Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level: The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water. There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.
- MRDLG - Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal: The level of a drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.
- NA - Not Applicable
- ND - Not Detected: Indicates that the substance was not found by laboratory analysis.
- pCi/L - picocuries per liter: A measure of radioactivity.
- ppb - parts per billion or micrograms per liter (µg/L): One part by weight of analyte to 1 billion parts by weight of the water sample.
- ppm - parts per million or milligrams per liter (mg/L): One part by weight of analyte to 1 million parts by weight of the water sample.
- TT - Treatment Technique: A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.