WATER TREATMENT · 66 MIN FROM OUR GREENVILLE OFFICE
Manganese leads Butler County's USGS well record: 86% of 14 sampled wells were over the 0.05 mg/L line, and 56% of 27 over iron's staining line. Those samples end in 1997, so test your own water before choosing equipment.
Serving our communities since 1967
USGS sampled Butler County wells between 1926 and 1997. That shows what is common here, and your own water test sets the size of the system.
Schedule a water test- HardMedian 9.1 gpg; 68% of 28 wells hard or very hardScale on fixtures, spotted glassware, a water heater working harder than it should. The softener is sized to your own test.The softener
- Iron56% of 27 wells above 0.3 mg/L; median 0.75 mg/LOrange staining that scrubbing never gets ahead of. The FerronX goes in at the point of entry, ahead of the softener.The iron system
- Manganese86% of 14 wells above 0.05 mg/LBlack flecks, dark marks in the dishwasher, a metallic taste. The FerronX takes it out with the iron, sized to whichever is higher.The iron system
- pHMedian pH 7.1; 13% of 15 wells below 6.5Acidic water pulls copper and lead out of the plumbing and leaves blue-green stains. A neutralizer goes ahead of everything else.Blue-green stains
- City waterPennsylvania American Water: about 19,500 customers in the City of Butler and the surrounding areaDisinfected before it arrives; the chlorine taste is what is left. The CityLux takes it out of the whole supply, not one tap.Chlorine removal
- Not on recordBacteria, nitrate, PFAS, arsenicThe public record is minerals from a few dozen wells. The things that matter most to health are only in your own sample.Water testing
- 28 wellsIn the USGS record for Butler County. Each well counts once, as the median of its samples.
- 111 ftMedian well depth on record; the middle half fall between 76 and 193 feet.
- 66 minFrom our Greenville 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 BUTLER COUNTY
The Equipment Butler
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.
- HARD AT THE MEDIAN
Water softeners
68% of sampled Butler County wells were hard or very hard, at a median of 9.1 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 86% above the manganese line. The FerronX goes in at the point of entry, ahead of the softener.
EXPLORE - BY THE CALL, NOT THE RECORD
Sulfur removal
Hydrogen sulfide isn’t in the county record; the rotten-egg smell gives it away. Injection, dosed from the test, and the CataPure carbon system take it out.
EXPLORE - AFTER THE FILTERS
UV sanitation
Bacteria aren’t in the public record either; a coliform test finds them. The Luminor UV lamp follows a sediment filter and treats every gallon entering the house.
EXPLORE - AT THE SINK
Reverse osmosis
Nitrate, arsenic, lead and PFAS are dissolved and tasteless. The membrane takes them out at the tap you drink from.
EXPLORE - PENNSYLVANIA AMERICAN WATER
Chlorine removal
about 19,500 customers in the City of Butler and the surrounding area are on treated city water. The CityLux takes the chlorine and chloramine back 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 Greenville office, about 66 minutes from Butler. What it finds decides which equipment you need and the order it goes in.
EXPLORE
WATER TREATMENT IN BUTLER COUNTY
What Butler Water Says,
and What We Do About It.
Manganese and iron, on older samples
The Butler County samples run from 1926 to 1997, and the manganese figure rests on 14 wells, so it points to what to test for and says little about any one house. Iron's median is 0.75 mg/L, above the 0.3 mg/L staining line, and 56% of 27 wells were over that line. Manganese leaves dark brown or black marks and iron orange ones, and a well can carry either without the other.
The FerronX Iron System removes both at the point of entry, sized from a test that reports each metal. A current lab test swaps decades-old county figures for your own well's numbers, and adds the bacteria check no county record can give you.
Hardness at 9.1 grains, pH at 7.1
Hardness has a median of 9.1 grains per gallon, with 68% of 28 wells hard or very hard. After iron and manganese come out, a LuxSoft water softener sized to your reading takes care of the scale on fixtures, the spots on dishes and the buildup in the water heater.
pH has a median of 7.1, and 13% of 15 wells were below 6.5: a minority, but enough to check before any softener goes in. Acidic water can pick up copper from plumbing and leave blue-green stains. A calcite neutralizer raises the pH, and because calcite adds some hardness, it goes ahead of the softener, which is then sized to the water leaving the neutralizer.
Butler's system softens and adds chloramine
Pennsylvania American Water's Butler system lists ion exchange softening, lime and soda ash, and permanganate for iron, manganese and organics. Its list goes on with powdered carbon, coagulation, settling and rapid sand filtration, a polyphosphate inhibitor and pH adjustment. It also lists chloramines, filed under disinfection by-product control, alongside chlorine. The water reaching homes on that system carries chloramine, which outlasts chlorine in the pipes and passes through a softener; the CityLux takes out both.
Elsewhere, Mars lists greensand and pressure sand filters for iron and manganese, with polyphosphate and orthophosphate inhibitors. Chicora lists a pressure sand filter for iron and a pH adjustment. Harmony lists permanganate, powdered carbon, coagulation and rapid sand filtration for its surface water, with chlorine before and after.
Purchased supplies and their lead rounds
Evans City buys from Pennsylvania American Water's Ellwood City system, Petrolia's Petroleum Valley authority from the East Brady Water System, and Zelienople from the Beaver Falls authority. Petroleum Valley's 90th-percentile lead was 0.027 mg/L in 2018 and 0.0216 mg/L in 2019, both over the 0.015 mg/L action level; its later rounds were 0.00349, 0.00267 and, in 2025, recorded as zero. Zelienople's four rounds ranged from 0.00296 to 0.00604, all under.
The Butler system's rounds went from 0.006 in 2016 to 0.002 in 2022 and 2025, and Harmony's and Slippery Rock's are all under the action level too. Each is a system-wide figure and your own tap can differ; reverse osmosis at the sink is the usual answer if a test finds lead.
From our Greenville office
Butler is about 66 minutes and 46.4 miles by road from our Greenville office, and the rest of the county is the same crews and the same drive. From Butler and Slippery Rock to Mars and Zelienople, Chatfield serves Butler County homes, farms, and businesses with wells that are deep, dependable, and designed to last. The service map lists 21 Butler County communities:
- Bruin
- Butler
- Callery
- Cherry Valley
- Chicora
- Connoquenessing
- East Butler
- Eau Claire
- Evans City
- Harmony
- Harrisville
- Karns City
- Mars
- Petrolia
- Portersville
- Prospect
- Saxonburg
- Slippery Rock
- Valencia
- West Liberty
- Zelienople
- The Butler County page
Source: Water quality: USGS National Water Information System results for Butler County wells, served through the Water Quality Portal, sampled between 1926 and 1997, 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: USGS groundwater site inventory for Butler County, 324 wells with a recorded depth, retrieved 2026-09-14.
A LITTLE CLARITY
Butler County Questions.
Straight Answers.
Does Butler city water need a softener?
Check before buying one. The Pennsylvania American Water system serving Butler already lists ion exchange softening, so a hardness reading at your tap, in grains per gallon, shows what's left. What the system does add is chloramine, and a softener doesn't remove it; a CityLux at the point of entry handles that.
Is Slippery Rock's water softened?
Yes. Slippery Rock's municipal authority lists reverse osmosis for hardness removal, along with aeration, permanganate, greensand filtration and sequestration for iron and manganese, a polyphosphate inhibitor and chlorine. Its lead rounds, from zero to 0.00119 mg/L, are all under the action level. A private well gets none of that treatment, so a test sets what it needs.
Where does Valencia's water come from?
EPA lists the Richland Township Water Authority, which serves Valencia, as buying surface water from the West View and Hampton Shaler water authorities and the Adams Township municipal water authority. It lists no treatment steps of its own, which isn't the same as untreated water. Its four lead rounds, between 0.00139 and 0.0029 mg/L, are under the action level.
Why test a Butler County well when the USGS record already shows manganese?
Because the record is old and small for any one house. The samples run from 1926 to 1997, manganese rests on 14 wells and pH on 15. Your own iron, manganese, hardness and pH decide whether you need a FerronX, a softener, a neutralizer, or none of them, and a test on site or through a certified lab gives those numbers.
Do you test water in Butler County?
Yes. Chatfield’s water test and consultation cover Butler County from our Greenville office, about 66 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.
Which Butler County communities do you serve for water treatment?
All of them, from Greenville. The service map lists 21 Butler County communities, including Bruin, Butler, Callery, Cherry Valley, Chicora, Connoquenessing, and the townships between them; the county line is the boundary, not the town list.
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 Butler
Starts with a Test.
Call or fill out the form to schedule your water test. We’ll come out from Greenville, measure what is in the water, and recommend the equipment that fits.