WATER TREATMENT · 49 MIN FROM OUR CORTLAND OFFICE
Salem’s water comes from reservoirs, a creek and four wells, and the city system filters, chlorinates and fluoridates it but lists no softening step. The latest lead round, for 2025, was 0.0094 mg/L, under the 0.015 mg/L action level.
Serving our communities since 1967
USGS sampled Columbiana County wells between 1986 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 16.7 gpg; 86% of 14 wells hard or very hardThe softener
- Iron79% of 14 wells above 0.3 mg/L; median 0.58 mg/LThe iron system
- Manganese86% of 14 wells above 0.05 mg/LThe iron system
- pHMedian pH 7.1; 0% of 14 wells below 6.5Blue-green stains
- Town waterthe Salem City public water system: about 16,850 people, surface water it treats itselfChlorine removal
- Not on recordBacteria, nitrate, PFAS, arsenicWater testing
- 14 wellsIn the USGS record for Columbiana County. Each well counts once, as the median of its samples.
- 1,869 wellsDomestic wells on file within 5 miles of Salem, a median 118 feet deep.
- 49 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 SALEM
The Equipment Salem
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
86% of sampled Columbiana County wells were hard or very hard, at a median of 16.7 grains per gallon. Your softener is sized to your own test.
EXPLORE - 79% OF WELLS ABOVE THE IRON LINE
Iron & manganese removal
79% 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 - ON TOWN WATER
Chlorine removal
Salem’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 49 minutes from Salem. What it finds decides which equipment you need and the order it goes in.
EXPLORE
WATER TREATMENT IN SALEM
What Salem Water Says,
and What We Do About It.
Reservoirs, a creek and four city wells
The city system is listed as surface water. Its intakes are Spring Valley Reservoir, Cold Run Creek and Salem Reservoir, and it also runs four wells. The system lists one treatment plant and seven storage tanks and serves 16,850 people through 6,958 connections.
The system’s steps focus on particles and taste. Rapid mix and coagulation clump fine particles so rapid sand filters can catch them. Permanganate is listed for taste and odor, powdered activated carbon for organics, and pH is adjusted along the way. Those steps shape what arrives at your faucet, and a water test at the tap shows the rest.
Chlorine and fluoride, but no softening
Disinfection is gaseous chlorination before filtration, and chloramine does not appear on EPA’s list, so what you may taste or smell is chlorine. Fluoride is added. For chlorine in the whole house, including showers and laundry, a CityLux at the point of entry removes it.
Softening does not appear on the list either, so nothing on it lowers hardness. A test gives your tap’s grains per gallon. If the number is high, that same CityLux softens the water too, keeping scale off fixtures and out of water heaters. Homes on wells outside the city get iron, manganese and pH added to the test, since their water gets no plant treatment at all. There, a LuxSoft softener handles hardness.
Five lead rounds, oldest to newest
EPA has five lead 90th-percentile results for the system: 0.0048 mg/L for the period ending 2017, 0.003 in 2020, 0.00125 in 2023, 0.00458 in 2024 and 0.0094 in 2025. Every round was under the 0.015 mg/L action level. The 2025 figure is the highest of the five.
Those numbers come from homes sampled around the city and describe the system rather than any one house. Your own tap depends partly on your own plumbing. A lead test through a certified lab answers that, and an Atlas Filtri Oasis Sanic reverse osmosis unit at the kitchen sink handles it if the result shows lead. The same unit covers nitrate, arsenic and PFAS.
The Columbiana County record
USGS samples from Columbiana County wells, taken 1986–2016: 86% of wells hard or very hard, 79% over the iron line, 0% below pH 6.5. The full record, measure by measure, is on the Columbiana County water treatment page.
From our Cortland office
Salem is about 49 minutes and 38 miles by road from our Cortland office, and the municipalities around it get the same crews and the same drive: Green Township, Goshen Township, Washingtonville, Leetonia, Beloit, Ellsworth Township, Sebring, Fairfield Township, Beaver Township. Nearby on the map:
- Greenford, OH
- Washingtonville, OH
- Damascus, OH
- Winona, OH
- Leetonia, OH
- Beloit, OH
- All of Columbiana County
Source: Water quality: USGS National Water Information System results for Columbiana County wells, served through the Water Quality Portal, sampled between 1986 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, 9,424 domestic wells in Columbiana County with a recorded depth, logged between 1925 and 2026, retrieved 2026-09-14.
A LITTLE CLARITY
Salem Questions.
Straight Answers.
How should I read Salem’s 2025 lead result?
It means 90 percent of the homes sampled that round were at or below 0.0094 mg/L, which is under the 0.015 mg/L action level. It’s a measure of the system, not of your house. If you want a number for your own tap, a certified-lab test gives it, and reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink is the fix if lead appears.
What are wells like around Salem?
ODNR has 1,869 logs within 5 miles. Median depth is 118 feet and median yield 15 gallons a minute, bedrock sits a median 40 feet down, and water stands a median 37 feet below ground. Those wells get no plant treatment, so a test for iron, manganese, hardness and pH is the starting point, with bacteria sent to a lab.
Do I need a whole-house filter on Salem city water?
Not automatically. The city system filters and chlorinates before the water reaches you. The usual add-on is a CityLux, which takes out chlorine taste and smell and softens the water in the same unit. A test and consultation show whether it’s worth doing for your house. The crew comes from the Cortland office, (330) 828-6060.
Do you test water in Salem?
Yes. Chatfield’s water test and consultation cover Salem from our Cortland office, about 49 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 Salem
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.