WATER TREATMENT · 76 MIN FROM OUR GREENVILLE OFFICE
Mars Borough Water Works pumps three Banks wells and filters out iron and manganese before the water reaches borough taps. Within 5 miles, private wells yield a median 10 gallons a minute, which shapes the treatment a home can run.
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 hardThe softener
- Iron56% of 27 wells above 0.3 mg/L; median 0.75 mg/LThe iron system
- Manganese86% of 14 wells above 0.05 mg/LThe iron system
- pHMedian pH 7.1; 13% of 15 wells below 6.5Blue-green stains
- Town waterMars Borough Water Works: about 1,956 people, its own wellsWater softeners
- Not on recordBacteria, nitrate, PFAS, arsenicWater testing
- 28 wellsIn the USGS record for Butler County. Each well counts once, as the median of its samples.
- 888 wellsDomestic wells on file within 5 miles of Mars, a median 160 feet deep.
- 76 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 MARS
The Equipment Mars
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 - 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 76 minutes from Mars. What it finds decides which equipment you need and the order it goes in.
EXPLORE
WATER TREATMENT IN MARS
What Mars Water Says,
and What We Do About It.
Greensand filters in the borough system
The borough system is groundwater from Banks Well 1, 2 and 3. It lists one treatment plant, the Banks Plant, and serves 1,956 people through 665 connections. EPA’s list of steps reads like an iron filter built at plant scale. Chlorine goes in first, both to disinfect and to oxidize iron and manganese. The list also has pH adjustment, pressure sand and greensand filters, and permanganate for manganese. A 4-log virus treatment step, disinfection that kills all but a tiny fraction of viruses, rounds out the list.
At your faucet, that means the iron and manganese the county’s wells are known for have already been removed. EPA’s list names chlorine, not chloramine, as the disinfectant. If its taste bothers you, a CityLux takes it out for the whole house.
Two corrosion inhibitors, no lead rounds on file
The Mars system feeds both an orthophosphate and a polyphosphate inhibitor. Both are listed for corrosion control, which means they are added to protect the pipes the water travels through.
The EPA records we drew on show no lead 90th-percentile results for this system, so there is no round-by-round history to report. That leaves your own tap as the way to know. A lead sample goes to a certified lab through our water testing, and if lead turns up, reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink is the usual answer. The Atlas Filtri Oasis Sanic unit also removes nitrate, arsenic, PFAS and dissolved solids at that one tap.
Yield is the limit on nearby wells
PaGWIS, Pennsylvania’s database of drilled wells, lists 888 logs within 5 miles of Mars. The median well is 160 feet deep, bedrock sits a median 18 feet down, and the rock mapped under the town is Glenshaw Formation shale, coal and sandstone. The figure to watch is yield: a median of 10 gallons a minute, a quarter of wells at 6 or less, and the top quarter at 18 or more.
Yield matters because backwashing equipment, such as the FerronX Iron System or a LuxSoft softener, needs a steady flow to clean itself. Find out what your well delivers before picking equipment. In the Butler County record, iron topped the staining line in 56 percent of sampled wells, so iron belongs on the test.
The Butler County record
USGS samples from Butler County wells, taken 1926–1997: 68% of wells hard or very hard, 56% over the iron line, 13% below pH 6.5. The full record, measure by measure, is on the Butler County water treatment page.
From our Greenville office
Mars is about 76 minutes and 57 miles by road from our Greenville office, and the municipalities around it get the same crews and the same drive: Adams Township, Valencia, Seven Fields, Callery, Pine Township, Richland Township, Middlesex Township, Cranberry Township, Evans City, Bradford Woods. Nearby on the map:
- Valencia, PA
- Callery, PA
- Evans City, PA
- Connoquenessing, PA
- Zelienople, PA
- Harmony, PA
- All of Butler County
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
Mars Questions.
Straight Answers.
Does Mars borough water need an iron filter?
It isn’t the starting point. The borough system already removes iron and manganese with pressure sand and greensand filters before the water reaches you. If you still see orange or black staining in a borough home, a test at the tap shows whether iron or manganese is present there, and from that result we can tell whether anything more is worth doing.
What does greensand filtration in the borough system do?
Greensand is a filter medium coated with manganese oxide. Once chlorine and permanganate have oxidized the dissolved iron and manganese in the well water, the greensand catches them before the water moves on to the mains. For a home on a private well, the FerronX Iron System handles the same two metals at the point of entry.
What should a Mars homeowner test first?
On the borough supply: chlorine, and lead at your own tap, since no lead rounds are on file for the system. On a well: iron, manganese, hardness and pH on site, with bacteria and nitrate through a certified lab. Call the Greenville office at (724) 588-2652 to set up the test and consultation.
Do you test water in Mars?
Yes. Chatfield’s water test and consultation cover Mars from our Greenville office, about 76 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 Mars
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.