WATER TREATMENT · OUR GREENVILLE OFFICE IS IN THE COUNTY
In Mercer County's USGS well samples, iron and manganese each clear their lines in more than half the wells tested, and several public systems in the county remove those same two metals before the water reaches a tap.
Serving our communities since 1967
USGS sampled Mercer County wells between 1928 and 2023. That shows what is common here, and your own water test sets the size of the system.
Schedule a water test- HardMedian 7.6 gpg; 59% of 102 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
- Iron58% of 99 wells above 0.3 mg/L; median 0.45 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
- Manganese54% of 93 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 7.4; 9% of 96 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
- 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
- 102 wellsIn the USGS record for Mercer County. Each well counts once, as the median of its samples.
- 90 ftMedian well depth on record; the middle half fall between 65 and 130 feet.
- In the countyOur Greenville office is inside Mercer County, so getting a crew to you is a short trip.
- 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 MERCER COUNTY
The Equipment Mercer
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
59% of sampled Mercer County wells were hard or very hard, at a median of 7.6 grains per gallon. Your softener is sized to your own test.
EXPLORE - 58% OF WELLS ABOVE THE IRON LINE
Iron & manganese removal
58% of sampled wells were above 0.3 mg/L of iron and 54% 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 - FIRST, EVERY TIME
A water test
Every system above starts with a test of your well or your tap water, from our Greenville office, inside the county. What it finds decides which equipment you need and the order it goes in.
EXPLORE
WATER TREATMENT IN MERCER COUNTY
What Mercer Water Says,
and What We Do About It.
Iron and manganese in the sampled wells
The USGS samples of Mercer County wells run from 1928 to 2023. Iron was above 0.3 mg/L, the level where orange staining starts, in 58% of 99 wells, and the median, 0.45 mg/L, is itself over that line. Manganese was above 0.05 mg/L in 54% of 93 wells. It often comes out of the tap clear and leaves dark brown or black marks later. The two metals often turn up together, but not always.
On a private well, the FerronX Iron System takes out iron and manganese together at the point of entry, and it protects a softener or carbon filter placed after it. If you already see orange stains, a test gives the numbers that size it.
Hardness and pH come next
Hardness is the next reading to check. The county median is 7.6 grains per gallon, and 59% of 102 sampled wells tested hard or very hard. That shows up as scale on fixtures and a water heater that loses efficiency. A LuxSoft water softener sized to your reading handles it, placed after the iron filter so the resin stays clean.
pH is rarely the problem here: the median is 7.4, and 9% of 96 wells were below 6.5. Where a test does land under 6.5, water can pick up copper from pipes and leave blue-green marks, and a calcite neutralizer raises it. Calcite adds some hardness, so it goes ahead of the softener.
Chloramine from both Shenango River systems
Aqua PA's Shenango Valley system, serving about 48,000 people, and its Greenville system, serving about 8,600, both treat Shenango River water. Both list chloramines, filed under disinfection by-product control, alongside chlorine before and after filtration. Sharpsville buys its water from Shenango Valley and lists its own steps, among them chlorine, coagulation, rapid sand filtration and fluoride.
For a home on either Aqua system, the water that reaches the tap carries chloramine. It lasts longer in the pipes than chlorine, and a softener leaves it in the water. The CityLux removes chlorine and chloramine for the whole house. If taste or smell is the complaint, see chlorine taste for the other signs and fixes.
Well-fed systems, greensand and a shared supply
The groundwater systems vary. Grove City's list is the longest of them: aeration, permanganate, greensand and rapid sand filtration for iron and manganese, plus pH adjustment and a polyphosphate inhibitor. Lake Latonka and Sandy Lake also list greensand filtration. Stoneboro lists sequestration, which holds iron and manganese in the water so they are less likely to stain. Fredonia and Jamestown list chlorine and 4-log virus treatment only.
A private well gets none of this unless the owner adds it. The FerronX does at the house much of what greensand filtration does in a public system, and a certified-lab test shows which equipment your well needs. Add a bacteria check if the well has never had one.
From our Greenville office
Our Greenville office is inside Mercer County, so a water test is a short trip. From Hermitage to Greenville, we’re proud to serve the communities of Mercer County with reliable, local water system expertise. The service map lists 15 Mercer County communities:
- Clark
- Farrell
- Fredonia
- Greenville
- Grove City
- Hermitage
- Jamestown
- Lake Latonka
- Mercer
- Sandy Lake
- Sharon
- Sharpsville
- Sheakleyville
- Stoneboro
- West Middlesex
- The Mercer County page
Source: Water quality: USGS National Water Information System results for Mercer County wells, served through the Water Quality Portal, sampled between 1928 and 2023, 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 Mercer County, 2,406 wells with a recorded depth, retrieved 2026-09-14.
A LITTLE CLARITY
Mercer County Questions.
Straight Answers.
How do Mercer County's public systems compare with the lead action level?
Every round EPA lists here is under 0.015 mg/L. Shenango Valley's 90th percentile was 0.0028 mg/L in 2016 and is recorded as zero in 2019, 2022 and 2025. Greenville: zero twice, then 0.00129 and 0.00084. Grove City: three rounds recorded as zero. Sharpsville: zero twice, then 0.0031 and 0.00144. These are system-wide figures and your tap can differ; reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink is the usual answer if a test finds lead.
What does it mean that Sandy Lake and Stoneboro buy water from each other?
EPA lists each system as buying from the other, and both still pump their own wells, four at Sandy Lake and six at Stoneboro. Their treatment lists differ: Sandy Lake's includes greensand filtration and permanganate for iron and manganese, while Stoneboro's lists sequestration and no filtration. For what reaches your tap in either town, the system's annual water report is the source.
Should a Mercer County well be tested for manganese as well as iron?
Yes. In the USGS samples, 54% of 93 wells were above the 0.05 mg/L manganese line, close to the 58% share for iron. Manganese is often invisible when it leaves the tap and stains later, so you can't judge it by eye. The FerronX handles both, and a test that measures each metal sets its size and setup.
Is Greenville's water treated the same way as Shenango Valley's?
Not exactly. Both draw on the Shenango River and list chloramines, fluoride and a corrosion inhibitor, but Greenville's inhibitor is polyphosphate where Shenango Valley's is orthophosphate, and only Shenango Valley lists chlorine dioxide, peroxide, lime and soda ash, and an ultraviolet step. At the tap, both carry chloramine, which a CityLux removes for the whole house.
Do you test water in Mercer County?
Yes. Chatfield’s water test and consultation cover Mercer County from our Greenville office, which is inside the county. The test measures what is in your water and at what level, and any equipment it points to is quoted after the results.
Which Mercer County communities do you serve for water treatment?
All of them, from Greenville. The service map lists 15 Mercer County communities, including Clark, Farrell, Fredonia, Greenville, Grove City, Hermitage, 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 Mercer
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.