Newark, Ohio

What is the Water Quality in Newark, Ohio?

Compared to other US cities, Newark water quality ranks in the middle range for contamination excluding Lead.

Most of their 26 contaminants have cancer-causing attributes.

• Atrazine is at very high levels: 5.5x health guidelines.
• Chloroform is at very high levels: 68x health guidelines.

Let’s look closer at what’s in Newark’s water.

What’s in Newark water?

Here are the top 6 chemical compounds in your water and what health issues they can potentially cause:

1. Atrazine – Potential effect: Harm to the developing fetus
2. Bromodichloromethane – Potential effect: Cancer
3. Chloroform – Potential effect: Cancer
4. Hexavalent Chromium – Potential effect: Cancer
5. Haloacetic acids (HAA5) – Potential effect: Cancer
6. Total trihalomethanes – Potential effect: Cancer

These are six of the 26 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).

14 of these contaminants are rated as exceeding EWG Health Guidelines.

Does Newark, Ohio have Lead contamination?

No, Newark does not currently have lead in its water. Lead samples collected in Newark from 2015 through 2017 had concentrations of 0.0 parts per billion.

The legal limit for lead is 15 parts per billion. Being well-below this level is a good thing.

• Concentrations between 3.8 ppb and 15 ppb put a formula-fed baby at risk of elevated blood lead levels. Read more about the symptoms of Lead in water.

There is no safe level of lead for humans.

• The good news is that 99.99% of the lead can be removed.

See the What Can You Do? section below to learn how to filter out contaminants.

Where does Newark’s water come from?

Newark’s water comes from the Log Pond Run – North Fork Licking River watershed.

The Log Pond Run – North Fork Licking River watershed is in Impaired condition.

Ideally, a water source would be rated in Good condition. See below for what you can do to improve Newark’s water.

Learn more from How’s My Waterway here

What Can You Do?

Information about water quality can be surprising and downright scary.

But there are things you can do in your home to clean up your water.

To Remove Lead and Other Contaminants In Your Home:

There is one solution that beats Brita, PUR, and expensive whole house systems.

• It costs less per gallon.
• Needs fewer filter changes.
• And it doesn’t make your water taste weird.

• Use Berkey filters with activated carbon to filter out at least 85% of contaminants in Newark drinking water.
  • Berkey filters can also remove up to 99.99% of Lead in Newark water.
  • Brita can filter 14 and Lead depending on the filter.
  • Note: We may receive a commission if you decide to purchase filters through links on this page.
• To filter out 22 of the 26 contaminants (84.6%), consider a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system for your house.
  • These are typically more expensive than pitchers to purchase, but may require fewer filter changes over time.
  • They also have the benefit of filtering out heavy hitters like:
    • Atrazine
    • Barium
    • Chromium (hexavalent)
    • Haloacetic acids
    • Molybdenum
    • Simazine
    • Strontium
    • Nitrates

In Your Community:

Contact your local government officials and put pressure on them to invest in cleaner waterways and upgraded city water filtration and treatment.

Go to: http://www.newarkohio.net/government to find contact information for your local officials.

Water Quality in Other Ohio Cities

Ohio Water Quality Page