WATER TREATMENT · 53 MIN FROM OUR GREENVILLE OFFICE
Acidity is the leading finding in Venango County's USGS well record: a median pH of 6.3, with 60% of sampled wells below 6.5. The samples are few, five to seven wells a measure, so your own test decides the treatment.
Serving our communities since 1967
USGS sampled Venango 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- Moderately hardMedian 3.9 gpg; 43% of 7 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
- Iron43% of 7 wells above 0.3 mg/L; median 0.1 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
- Manganese40% of 5 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 6.3; 60% of 5 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
- 7 wellsIn the USGS record for Venango County. Each well counts once, as the median of its samples.
- 130 ftMedian well depth on record; the middle half fall between 63 and 200 feet.
- 53 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 VENANGO COUNTY
The Equipment Venango
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.
- MODERATELY HARD AT THE MEDIAN
Water softeners
43% of sampled Venango County wells were hard or very hard, at a median of 3.9 grains per gallon. Your softener is sized to your own test.
EXPLORE - 43% OF WELLS ABOVE THE IRON LINE
Iron & manganese removal
43% of sampled wells were above 0.3 mg/L of iron and 40% 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, about 53 minutes from Venango. What it finds decides which equipment you need and the order it goes in.
EXPLORE
WATER TREATMENT IN VENANGO COUNTY
What Venango Water Says,
and What We Do About It.
pH first, then the rest of the system
Water below pH 6.5 can corrode copper plumbing, leaving blue-green stains in sinks and tubs and carrying copper into the water. With a county median of 6.3, a pH reading belongs near the top of any Venango County water test. The USGS samples run from 1928 to 2023, and the pH figure rests on five wells.
A calcite neutralizer raises pH as the water passes through a bed of calcite, a form of calcium carbonate. Calcite adds some hardness as it dissolves, so the neutralizer goes ahead of a softener, and the softener is sized to the water leaving it. If you already see blue-green stains, pH is the first thing to test.
Hardness, iron and manganese on few samples
The other readings rest on similarly small numbers. Hardness has a median of 3.9 grains per gallon, and 43% of seven wells tested hard or very hard. Iron was above the 0.3 mg/L staining line in 43% of seven wells, with a median of 0.1 mg/L. Manganese was above 0.05 mg/L in 40% of five.
Numbers like these show that a problem occurs in the county, not how often it will turn up in your well. Where a test finds iron or manganese, the FerronX Iron System removes both. A LuxSoft softener is sized to the hardness the water carries once the pH is corrected. Sediment and sulfur odor aren't on the county record at all, one more reason to test rather than guess.
Corrosion control on five system lists
Five of the eight public systems serving the towns we list include a corrosion-control step. Franklin, Oil City and Rouseville add a polyphosphate inhibitor and Sugarcreek an orthophosphate one, and Clintonville, Rouseville and Sugarcreek adjust pH. Iron and manganese removal appears at Barkeyville and Clintonville, both with permanganate and greensand filtration, and at Rouseville as cascade aeration for iron. Barkeyville is the one system that lists softening, by ion exchange.
Every list includes chlorine and none includes chloramine. Pleasantville buys its water from Titusville Municipal Water and lists one step, chlorination. For a home on any of these systems, a carbon filter or the CityLux takes out the chlorine, and our chlorine taste page covers the signs.
Lead rounds at Franklin and Oil City
EPA lists lead results for two systems. The General Authority of Franklin recorded a 90th percentile of 0.002 mg/L in 2016, zero in 2019, 0.00138 mg/L in 2022 and zero again in 2025. Oil City's rounds were 0.006 mg/L in 2016, then 0.00182, 0.00256 and 0.00151 mg/L in 2019, 2022 and 2025. Every round is under the 0.015 mg/L action level. The figure covers taps across the system, and one home's plumbing can read differently; reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink is the usual answer when a home test finds lead.
A private well has no system behind it. A lab test covering pH, hardness, iron, manganese and bacteria is where treatment starts.
From our Greenville office
Franklin is about 53 minutes and 35.2 miles by road from our Greenville office, and the rest of the county is the same crews and the same drive. From Franklin and Oil City to the townships around them, Chatfield brings local water system expertise to homes, farms, and businesses across Venango County. The service map lists 10 Venango County communities:
- Barkeyville
- Clintonville
- Cooperstown
- Franklin
- Oil City
- Pleasantville
- Polk
- Rouseville
- Sugarcreek
- Utica
- The Venango County page
Source: Water quality: USGS National Water Information System results for Venango 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 Venango County, 13 wells with a recorded depth, retrieved 2026-09-14.
A LITTLE CLARITY
Venango County Questions.
Straight Answers.
Does any Venango County water system soften its water?
Of the eight systems serving the towns we list, one does. The Barkeyville authority lists ion exchange for hardness removal, along with permanganate and greensand filtration for iron and manganese. None of the other seven lists softening. If your supply isn't softened and scale is building up, a hardness reading at the tap, in grains per gallon, is what a LuxSoft softener gets sized to.
Is a small USGS sample enough to choose treatment in Venango County?
No. The county's quality figures rest on five to seven wells each, so they show which problems occur here, not how common they are or whether your well has them. A test of your own water, on site or through a certified lab, gives the numbers the equipment is chosen from, and it can rule equipment out as well as in.
What do cascade and diffused aeration do on Venango County water lists?
Both are listed for iron removal: Rouseville lists cascade aeration and Clintonville diffused aeration. Air oxidizes dissolved iron so it can be filtered or settled out. A private well has no aeration step unless one is added; the FerronX does that job at the point of entry, and it takes manganese out too.
Does Pleasantville's water come from its own wells?
No. EPA lists Pleasantville Borough Water, which serves 846 people, as buying groundwater from Titusville Municipal Water, with no active wells of its own and one treatment step, chlorination. For what reaches the tap, the borough's annual water report is the source. For a private well, your own test is.
Do you test water in Venango County?
Yes. Chatfield’s water test and consultation cover Venango County from our Greenville office, about 53 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 Venango County communities do you serve for water treatment?
All of them, from Greenville. The service map lists 10 Venango County communities, including Barkeyville, Clintonville, Cooperstown, Franklin, Oil City, Pleasantville, 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 Venango
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.