WATER TREATMENT · 84 MIN FROM OUR GREENVILLE OFFICE
The city authority treats water drawn from Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay, so a city tap delivers filtered, chlorinated water with a corrosion inhibitor. Its four lead rounds since 2016 all came in under the action level.
Serving our communities since 1967
USGS sampled Erie County wells between 1927 and 2023. That shows what is common here, and your own water test sets the size of the system.
Schedule a water test- HardMedian 8.2 gpg; 68% of 349 wells hard or very hardThe softener
- Iron33% of 251 wells above 0.3 mg/L; median 0.18 mg/LThe iron system
- Manganese83% of 42 wells above 0.05 mg/LThe iron system
- pHMedian pH 7.6; 4% of 208 wells below 6.5Blue-green stains
- Town waterErie City Water Authority: about 220,001 people, surface water it treats itselfChlorine removal
- Not on recordBacteria, nitrate, PFAS, arsenicWater testing
- 349 wellsIn the USGS record for Erie County. Each well counts once, as the median of its samples.
- 396 wellsDomestic wells on file within 5 miles of Erie, a median 60 feet deep.
- 84 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 ERIE
The Equipment Erie
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.
- HARD AT THE MEDIAN
Water softeners
68% of sampled Erie County wells were hard or very hard, at a median of 8.2 grains per gallon. Your softener is sized to your own test.
EXPLORE - 33% OF WELLS ABOVE THE IRON LINE
Iron & manganese removal
33% of sampled wells were above 0.3 mg/L of iron and 83% above the manganese line. The FerronX goes in at the point of entry, ahead of the softener.
EXPLORE - ON TOWN WATER
Chlorine removal
Erie’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 Greenville office, about 84 minutes from Erie. What it finds decides which equipment you need and the order it goes in.
EXPLORE
WATER TREATMENT IN ERIE
What Erie Water Says,
and What We Do About It.
Two lake intakes and one in the bay
The Erie City Water Authority is a surface-water system, and a large one: EPA lists a population of 220,001 on 63,820 service connections. Its intakes are two in the lake, listed as Chestnut and West, plus one in Presque Isle Bay, and EPA lists its facilities from the Chestnut Street plant to sites at Sigsbee, Johnson, Henderson and Grubb Road.
To remove particles, the authority reports microscreening, rapid mix, coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation and rapid sand filtration. Permanganate is listed for taste and odor. Chlorine goes in after treatment, as gas and as hypochlorite, and the list adds an orthophosphate corrosion inhibitor and fluoride. At a city tap, the step you may notice is the chlorine. CityLux removes it for the whole house.
Orthophosphate and four lead rounds
The authority adds orthophosphate, a corrosion inhibitor that protects pipes. EPA’s lead table shows four rounds, each the 90th percentile of the homes sampled: 0.00118 mg/L for the period ending September 2016, recorded as zero for 2019, and 0.00108 in both 2022 and 2025. Against the 0.015 mg/L action level, every round sits under the line.
A system result is a system-wide figure, and a single house can read higher or lower. A certified-lab test of the kitchen tap gives you your own number. If lead turns up, reverse osmosis at the sink, the Atlas Filtri Oasis Sanic, is the usual answer. The contaminants page lists what else a lab can check.
Township wells on Northeast Shale
Where the authority’s mains don’t reach, homes rely on wells. PaGWIS has 396 logs within 5 miles of the city center. The median well is 60 feet deep, the middle half 45 to 78, and bedrock is a median 35 feet down. Yields spread widely: a median of 8 gallons per minute, but a middle half that runs from 3 to 20. The mapped rock is Northeast Shale, Late Devonian shale and siltstone.
Well owners handle their own treatment, starting with a water test at the tap. Iron and manganese go to a FerronX Iron System, and a rotten-egg smell to a CataPure Carbon System with chlorine or peroxide injection. The Erie County page carries the USGS record for the county’s wells.
The Erie County record
USGS samples from Erie County wells, taken 1927–2023: 68% of wells hard or very hard, 33% over the iron line, 4% below pH 6.5. The full record, measure by measure, is on the Erie County water treatment page.
From our Greenville office
Erie is about 84 minutes and 65 miles by road from our Greenville office, and the municipalities around it get the same crews and the same drive: Millcreek Township, Lawrence Park Township, Wesleyville, Summit Township, Harborcreek Township, Greene Township, McKean Township. Nearby on the map:
Source: Water quality: USGS National Water Information System results for Erie County wells, served through the Water Quality Portal, sampled between 1927 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 Erie County, 1,755 wells with a recorded depth, retrieved 2026-09-14.
A LITTLE CLARITY
Erie Questions.
Straight Answers.
Why does the Erie authority use permanganate?
EPA lists it for taste and odor control at the authority. Permanganate is an oxidizer, one of several steps the water passes through before it leaves the plant. At your tap it’s the chlorine you’re more likely to notice, and a CityLux system takes that out for the whole house if you’d rather not taste or smell it in the shower or the glass.
Does Erie city water use chloramine?
The authority’s reported steps list chlorine, added as gas and as hypochlorite, and no chloramine step appears on its record. For a whole-house filter, the difference matters less than you might think: CityLux removes both chlorine and chloramine, so the same system fits either way.
How much water do wells near Erie produce?
The 339 logs within 5 miles that record a yield put the median at 8 gallons per minute, with the middle half between 3 and 20. That’s a wide spread, so a neighbor’s well says little about yours. Your own well’s flow, along with a water test, is what sizes the treatment equipment.
Do you test water in Erie?
Yes. Chatfield’s water test and consultation cover Erie from our Greenville office, about 84 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 Erie
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.