Ohio

Water Quality in the State of Ohio

Ohio is located in the east Midwestern region of the United States and is the 7^th most populous, with 11.69 million people. Ohio is the place where you can explore the Amish Country, visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

Ohio’s water supply comes from surface water and groundwater. Most of Ohio residents get their drinking water from surface water, like rivers and reservoirs. The city of Columbus water supply comes from three main reservoirs that provide 90% of the city’s water.

Water Hardness by City

Ohio water is considered hard to very hard. The average water hardness for the Ohio resident is around 155 PPM. The city with the hardest water is Dayton, at 362 PPM. The water for the city of Cleveland is 125 PPM, and the state capital Columbus, has 128 PPM which is considered hard according to USGS water hardness measures.

For more information on water hardness in specific cities, please see the table below.

City and Zip Code	Hardness
Akron 44301 | 44302 | 44303 | 44304 | 44305 | 44306 | 44307 | 44308 | 44310 | 44311 | 44312 | 44313 | 44314 | 44319 | 44320 | 44321 | 44333	112 PPM (mg/L) or 6 gpg
Cedarville 45314	400 PPM (mg/L) or 23 gpg
Chillicothe 45601	140 PPM (mg/L) or 8 gpg
Cincinnati 45202 | 45203 | 45204 | 45205 | 45206 | 45207 | 45208 | 45209 | 45211 | 45212 | 45213 | 45214 | 45215 | 45216 | 45217 | 45218 | 45219 | 45220 | 45223 | 45224 | 45225 | 45226 | 45227 | 45229 | 45230 | 45231 | 45232 | 45233 | 45236 | 45237 | 45238 | 45239 | 45240 | 45241 | 45242 | 45243 | 45244 | 45245 | 45246 | 45247 | 45248 | 45249 | 45251 | 45252 | 45255	130 PPM (mg/L) or 8 gpg
Cleveland 44101 | 44102 | 44103 | 44104 | 44105 | 44106 | 44108 | 44109 | 44110 | 44111 | 44112 | 44113 | 44114 | 44115 | 44118 | 44119 | 44120 | 44121 | 44124 | 44125 | 44126 | 44127 | 44128 | 44129 | 44130 | 44134 | 44135 | 44143 | 44144	125 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg
Clifton 45136	400 PPM (mg/L) or 23 gpg
Columbus 43085 | 43201 | 43202 | 43203 | 43204 | 43205 | 43206 | 43207 | 43209 | 43210 | 43211 | 43212 | 43213 | 43214 | 43215 | 43217 | 43219 | 43220 | 43221 | 43222 | 43223 | 43224 | 43227 | 43228 | 43229 | 43230 | 43231 | 43232 | 43235 | 43240	128 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg
Dayton 45402 | 45403 | 45404 | 45405 | 45406 | 45409 | 45410 | 45414 | 45415 | 45416 | 45417 | 45419 | 45420 | 45424 | 45426 | 45428 | 45429 | 45430 | 45431 | 45432 | 45433 | 45434 | 45439 | 45440 | 45449 | 45458 | 45459	155 PPM (mg/L) or 9 gpg
Delaware Ohio 43105	140 PPM (mg/L) or 8 gpg
Elyria 44035	120 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg
Grove City 43123	120 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg
Hamilton Ohio 45011 | 45013 | 45015	131 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg
Hilliard Ohio 43026	121 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg
Lancaster Ohio 43130	128 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg
Loveland Ohio 45140	342 PPM (mg/L) or 20 gpg
Mason Ohio 45040	171 PPM (mg/L) or 10 gpg
Mentor Ohio 44060	122 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg
Middletown Ohio 45044 | 45042	131 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg
Newark Ohio 43055	109 PPM (mg/L) or 6 gpg
Painesville Ohio 44077	122 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg
Reynoldsburg Ohio 43068	120 PPM (mg/L) or 7 gpg
Toledo 43604 | 43605 | 43606 | 43607 | 43608 | 43609 | 43610 | 43611 | 43612 | 43613 | 43614 | 43615 | 43617 | 43620 | 43623	74 PPM (mg/L) or 4 gpg
Westerville Ohio 43081 | 43082	122 PPM (mg/L) or  gpg
Xenia 45385	400 PPM (mg/L) or 23 gpg

Manufacturing and Water Hardness

Manufacturing is a major industry for Ohio with over 670 manufacturing companies. Ohio’s top manufacturing industries are food, beverage and tobacco products, motor vehicles and parts, aerospace and other transportation equipment, fabricated metals and more.

Product processing in most manufacturing plants requires water. Cooling towers and HVAC are imperative to keeping operations running smoothly. Water hardness levels in some manufacturing plants can be as high as 500 PPM; with water hardness levels this high, manufacturing equipment can deteriorate at a rapid pace and experience efficiency loss.

Solutions to your Water Quality Problems

Fixing your water quality issues in the state of Ohio will depend on your specific water source. It is best to test your potable water supply in order to get a better understanding of your water quality. Testing is relatively cheap. The test results will allow you to understand if your potable water has issues that need to be addressed. Common solutions to water contamination problems may include a water filtration system, a reverse osmosis system or other whole home water treatment solutions.

A problem that most Ohio residents will have to deal with is hard water. One old-fashioned, inefficient, expensive and unhealthy method to treat hard water is with a salt-based water softener. Most people don’t realize that if you’re using a water softener you are basically removing calcium and magnesium from your drinking water and adding salt to your diet. In addition, many states are banning the use of salt-based water softeners. 

Alternative water treatment solutions such as “water conditioners” have been gaining popularity in recent years because they are cheap to operate and the best eco-friendly solution for hard water. Hydropath technology, which powers the HydroFLOW water conditioners is by far the most efficient and cost-effective eco-friendly solution to deal with hard water problems. To learn more about how HydroFLOW solves the problems created by hard water, please check out our technology page. You might want to read this blog that explains the difference between water conditioners and water softeners: Water Conditioner vs. Water Softener Blog.