MERCER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA · 27 MIN FROM OUR GREENVILLE OFFICE
EPA lists an Aqua PA system named for Lake Latonka that filters iron and manganese out of its well water through greensand, the same two metals Mercer County's USGS record finds above their lines in more than half its sampled wells. For private wells, the drilling is on the shallow side: 14th of 15 county towns by median depth.
Serving our communities since 1967
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WHAT WE DO IN LAKE LATONKA
Whether you’re on a private well or city water, the same crew handles the water source, the pressure, and what comes out of the tap.
The Aqua PA plant adds chlorine ahead of greensand filters for iron and manganese, chlorinates again afterward and adds a polyphosphate corrosion inhibitor. For a private well, a FerronX Iron System does the iron and manganese work once a water test confirms the levels.
The Shenango Formation, sandstone, shale and siltstone, is mapped under the town. A quarter of the 625 logs finished at 63 feet or less, and rock came up at a median 28 feet in 362 logs, so casing is usually modest.
Local yields are healthy: half of 517 logs fall between 15 and 35 gallons a minute. Most wells can run a standard submersible without strain, and many can take a constant-pressure upgrade after a flow test.
WELLS AROUND LAKE LATONKA
The 625 domestic wells on file within 5 miles of Lake Latonka, from the state’s drilling logs: your neighbors’ wells, and the best guide to this ground.
middle half 63–110 ft
middle half 15–35 gpm
middle half 18–45 ft
PaGWIS records
Source: PaGWIS (PA DCNR), domestic wells within 5 miles, retrieved 2026-09-30; older paper-record locations are approximate.
Aqua PA's Lake Latonka system is privately owned and serves 606 connections from two groundwater wells, Well #1 and Well #2, with one listed treatment plant. EPA lists chlorine added before filtration for iron and manganese removal, and greensand filtration for both. Chlorine goes in again afterward for disinfection. The list also has a polyphosphate inhibitor that protects pipes, and 4-log treatment of viruses, enough to kill nearly all of them. The EPA record we draw on has no lead sampling rounds for it, and customers get their water report from Aqua.
Iron is just as much a question for private wells. In Mercer County's USGS record, 58% of 99 wells topped the 0.3 mg/L iron staining line. A water test shows where your well stands, and iron removal covers the FerronX system.
Wells around Lake Latonka run shallow, 14th of 15 Mercer County towns by median depth, but the range is wide. A quarter of the 625 local logs stopped at 63 feet or less, while another quarter still reached 110, so the logs nearest your lot are the better guide. Casing usually runs to rock, and rock came up at 18 feet or less in a quarter of logs and 45 or more in another quarter.
Yields are the good news. A quarter of the 517 logs that record a yield reach 35 gallons a minute or more, and the median is 20, so a submersible pump seldom has to be throttled back to spare the well. A new hole comes with PA DEP permit assistance through residential well drilling, and the Mercer County page covers the wider area.
WATER IN MERCER COUNTY
In USGS samples from across Mercer County, taken 1928–2023, 59% of wells were hard or very hard, 58% carried iron above the staining line, 54% had manganese above 0.05 mg/L. The full record, and what it means for treatment, is on the Mercer County page; your own well gets its own test.
WHY LAKE LATONKA CHOOSES CHATFIELD
Rated 4.7 on Google across 104 reviews. Here is what working with us looks like, in a customer’s words.
“Chatfield Drilling replaced a submersible pump, extended our well casing above ground, and installed a sanitary cap at our farm house. This is our first experience with a well. Both Matt and Sam were happy to answer all of our questions, no matter how small, in a way that we could understand and enabled us to make informed decisions.”
NEARBY
We send the same crews to each of these towns. If you’re between towns, pick the closest one; the service doesn’t change.
A LITTLE CLARITY
Our Greenville office (854 Mercer Rd., Greenville, PA 16125) is about 27 minutes and 16 miles by road from Lake Latonka. Service calls for Lake Latonka are scheduled from there.
Lake Latonka and the municipalities around it: Coolspring Township, Jackson Center, Jackson Township, Fairview Township, Lake Township, Fredonia, Mercer, Stoneboro, Findley Township, Worth Township. Beyond those, the rest of the 15 Mercer County communities on our service map, from the same office.
Pennsylvania’s groundwater database (PaGWIS) lists 625 domestic wells within 5 miles of Lake Latonka: the median is 81 feet deep, and the middle half fall between 63 and 110 feet. The median well was logged at 20 gallons per minute. Drillers reached bedrock at a median of 28 feet. Your own well's depth depends on the ground under your lot.
EPA lists a polyphosphate inhibitor on the Aqua PA system for corrosion control: it is added to protect the pipes. It sits alongside the greensand filtration and chlorination on the system's list. Customers can find more detail in Aqua's water report, and anyone on a private well can ask for a water test.
It is a sensible step. A well inspection checks the pump, pressure tank and wellhead, and a flow test shows what the well delivers; locally, half the logged wells yield 15 to 35 gallons a minute, so a result well below that is worth a closer look. A water test, on site or through a certified lab, rounds it out.
Talk with the Chatfield team.
(724) 588-2652A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE GOES A LONG WAY
WATER TESTINGWhat a test measures, what the results mean, and what happens next.
WELL DRILLINGWhat drives the price of drilling a well in our region, and what to ask before you sign.
WATER PROBLEMSIron and manganese in well water: what causes it and how a test confirms it.
YOUR NEXT STEP
Tell us what you’re noticing. We’ll come out from Greenville, test your water, and walk you through the next step.