WATER TREATMENT · 46 MIN FROM OUR CORTLAND OFFICE
Ashtabula’s public supply is Lake Erie water, treated at Aqua Ohio’s plant with an orthophosphate inhibitor added to protect pipes. Every lead round EPA lists for the system came in under the action level.
Serving our communities since 1967
USGS sampled Ashtabula County wells between 1982 and 2016. That shows what is common here, and your own water test sets the size of the system.
Schedule a water test- Very hardMedian 18.2 gpg; 89% of 9 wells hard or very hardThe softener
- Iron56% of 9 wells above 0.3 mg/L; median 0.5 mg/LThe iron system
- Manganese78% of 9 wells above 0.05 mg/LThe iron system
- pHMedian pH 7.8; 8% of 48 wells below 6.5Blue-green stains
- Town waterthe Aqua Ohio, Ashtabula public water system: about 32,342 people, surface water it treats itselfChlorine removal
- Not on recordBacteria, nitrate, PFAS, arsenicWater testing
- 9 wellsIn the USGS record for Ashtabula County. Each well counts once, as the median of its samples.
- 308 wellsDomestic wells on file within 5 miles of Ashtabula, a median 67 feet deep.
- 46 minFrom our Cortland office by road. Same crews, same drive, for the whole area.
- WHAT YOUR TEST ADDS
- Your well’s numbers, not the county’s
- Bacteria and nitrate, which the record never covers
- Which equipment your water needs, and in what order
WHAT WE INSTALL IN ASHTABULA
The Equipment Ashtabula
Water Tends to Need.
Chatfield Water Systems is one line, with one system per problem. Your water test decides which ones you need and in what order; the county record shows which are likely.
- VERY HARD AT THE MEDIAN
Water softeners
89% of sampled Ashtabula County wells were hard or very hard, at a median of 18.2 grains per gallon. Your softener is sized to your own test.
EXPLORE - 56% OF WELLS ABOVE THE IRON LINE
Iron & manganese removal
56% of sampled wells were above 0.3 mg/L of iron and 78% above the manganese line. The FerronX goes in at the point of entry, ahead of the softener.
EXPLORE - ON TOWN WATER
Chlorine removal
Ashtabula’s public water is disinfected surface water, so the chlorine is still in it at the tap. The CityLux takes it out of the whole supply.
EXPLORE - FIRST, EVERY TIME
A water test
Every system above starts with a test of your well or your tap water, from our Cortland office, about 46 minutes from Ashtabula. What it finds decides which equipment you need and the order it goes in.
EXPLORE
WATER TREATMENT IN ASHTABULA
What Ashtabula Water Says,
and What We Do About It.
Lake Erie through Aqua Ohio’s plant
The Aqua Ohio - Ashtabula system, EPA ID OH0400711, is privately owned and serves 32,342 people through 13,255 connections, with 4 storage tanks. Its water comes in from a Lake Erie intake and runs through a full surface-water plant. Permanganate goes in for organics and chlorine at the start, with powdered activated carbon for taste and odor. Coagulation, rapid mixing, flocculation and settling come next, ahead of rapid sand filters. Chlorine goes in again after filtration, and fluoride is added.
The disinfectant EPA lists is chlorine, and chloramine is not on the list. If chlorine is what you taste or smell, a CityLux removes it at the point of entry, so showers and laundry get the same water as the kitchen. Chlorine taste covers the details.
Orthophosphate and Aqua Ohio’s lead rounds
EPA lists an orthophosphate inhibitor for corrosion control, a treatment meant to protect pipes by limiting how much metal the water picks up from them. The lead record shows 90th-percentile results of 0.0027 mg/L in 2017, 0.005 in 2018, 0.0048 in 2019, 0.0036 in 2020 and 0.0028 in 2021. Rounds from 2022 through mid-2024 are recorded as zero, and 2025 came in at 0.00309. Every one is under the 0.015 mg/L action level.
Those figures come from homes sampled across the system. Your own tap reflects your own service line and plumbing, so a home test is the way to know it. If lead turns up, an Atlas Filtri Oasis Sanic reverse osmosis system at the kitchen sink is the usual fix. We test on site or through a certified lab; see water testing.
Slow shale wells around Ashtabula
For private wells, ODNR logs within 5 miles show wells a median 67 feet deep, reaching rock at a median 38 feet. A quarter go 60 feet or more before they hit it. The mapped bedrock is Ohio Shale, a Devonian black shale. Yields run low: the median is 4 gallons a minute, and a quarter of wells give 2 or less. Water stands a median 20 feet down.
A slow well changes how treatment is sized. Filters that backwash, such as the FerronX Iron System or a LuxSoft softener, need enough flow to rinse themselves clean, so the well’s output is part of choosing a size, not only the water test.
The Ashtabula County record
USGS samples from Ashtabula County wells, taken 1982–2016: 89% of wells hard or very hard, 56% over the iron line, 8% below pH 6.5. The full record, measure by measure, is on the Ashtabula County water treatment page.
From our Cortland office
Ashtabula is about 46 minutes and 40 miles by road from our Cortland office, and the municipalities around it get the same crews and the same drive: Ashtabula Township, Plymouth Township, Saybrook Township, Kingsville Township, Sheffield Township, North Kingsville, Jefferson Township, Geneva-on-the-Lake, Austinburg Township, Jefferson. Nearby on the map:
- North Kingsville, OH
- Kingsville, OH
- Austinburg, OH
- Jefferson, OH
- Geneva, OH
- Unionville Center, OH
- All of Ashtabula County
Source: Water quality: USGS National Water Information System results for Ashtabula County wells, served through the Water Quality Portal, sampled between 1982 and 2016, retrieved 2026-09-14. Each well counts once, as the median of its samples. The 0.3 mg/L iron and 0.05 mg/L manganese marks are EPA secondary standards, which are aesthetic limits, not health limits. Well depth: Ohio Department of Natural Resources well-log database, 5,480 domestic wells in Ashtabula County with a recorded depth, logged between 1936 and 2026, retrieved 2026-09-14.
A LITTLE CLARITY
Ashtabula Questions.
Straight Answers.
Is Ashtabula’s water chlorinated or chloraminated?
Chlorinated. EPA lists hypochlorination at Aqua Ohio’s plant both before and after filtration, and chloramine is not among the listed steps. Chlorine fades in the pipes faster than chloramine would, but some still reaches the tap by design. A whole-home CityLux removes it, and the same unit handles chloramine, so it suits either disinfectant.
I’m on city water in Ashtabula. Do I need a softener?
It depends on one reading. Softening is not among the treatment steps EPA lists for Aqua Ohio’s plant, and the record here gives no hardness figure for the lake supply. A test at your tap measures hardness in grains per gallon. If the reading calls for softening, the CityLux does it in the same unit that takes out the chlorine, set up for your hardness and household.
What should a well owner near Ashtabula test for first?
Start broad. The county’s USGS record found 89% of sampled wells hard or very hard and 56% above the iron staining line, but it rests on only 9 wells and says nothing about bacteria or nitrate. A Chatfield test on site or through a certified lab covers those too, and your own results decide what equipment goes in and in what order.
Do you test water in Ashtabula?
Yes. Chatfield’s water test and consultation cover Ashtabula from our Cortland office, about 46 minutes away by road. The test measures what is in your water and at what level, and any equipment it points to is quoted after the results.
Talk with the Chatfield team.
(724) 588-2652A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE GOES A LONG WAY
Know Your Water.
WATER PROBLEMSDo you have hard water?
The signs, the county hardness record, and how to confirm it.
WATER PROBLEMSOrange stains from your well water.
Read the stain, the county iron record, and what to note before you call.
WATER PROBLEMSBacteria in your water.
What a coliform result means, what to do now, and which treatment follows.
YOUR NEXT STEP
Better Water in Ashtabula
Starts with a Test.
Call or fill out the form to schedule your water test. We’ll come out from Cortland, measure what is in the water, and recommend the equipment that fits.