WATER TREATMENT · 40 MIN FROM OUR GREENVILLE OFFICE
Slippery Rock’s municipal water is groundwater that the authority softens by reverse osmosis and treats for iron and manganese, so homes on it start from treated water. Township wells start from whatever the rock gives them.
Serving our communities since 1967
USGS sampled Butler County wells between 1926 and 1997. That shows what is common here, and your own water test sets the size of the system.
Schedule a water test- HardMedian 9.1 gpg; 68% of 28 wells hard or very hardThe softener
- Iron56% of 27 wells above 0.3 mg/L; median 0.75 mg/LThe iron system
- Manganese86% of 14 wells above 0.05 mg/LThe iron system
- pHMedian pH 7.1; 13% of 15 wells below 6.5Blue-green stains
- Town waterSlippery Rock Municipal Authority: about 15,778 people, its own wellsWater softeners
- Not on recordBacteria, nitrate, PFAS, arsenicWater testing
- 28 wellsIn the USGS record for Butler County. Each well counts once, as the median of its samples.
- 836 wellsDomestic wells on file within 5 miles of Slippery Rock, a median 120 feet deep.
- 40 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 SLIPPERY ROCK
The Equipment Slippery Rock
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 Butler County wells were hard or very hard, at a median of 9.1 grains per gallon. Your softener is sized to your own test.
EXPLORE - 56% OF WELLS ABOVE THE IRON LINE
Iron & manganese removal
56% of sampled wells were above 0.3 mg/L of iron and 86% above the manganese line. The FerronX goes in at the point of entry, ahead of the softener.
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 40 minutes from Slippery Rock. What it finds decides which equipment you need and the order it goes in.
EXPLORE
WATER TREATMENT IN SLIPPERY ROCK
What Slippery Rock Water Says,
and What We Do About It.
Three wells, two plants and reverse osmosis
The Slippery Rock Municipal Authority pumps three wells, Well #3, Well #4 and SRMA Well 5, lists two treatment plants, on Forester Road and Hines Road, and serves 15,778 people on 1,978 connections. Iron gets the most attention on EPA’s list: spray aeration, chlorine, permanganate, greensand filtration and sequestration are all aimed at iron, manganese or both.
Reverse osmosis is listed too, for softening. After treatment, chlorine goes in again for disinfection, and the system is listed for 4-log virus treatment, a level that kills almost every virus. At the tap, that means softened water, iron and manganese already handled, and a chlorine residual. A CityLux removes the chlorine if its taste bothers you, and a water test shows how soft the water actually arrives.
Lead results near zero since 2016
The authority adjusts pH and feeds a polyphosphate inhibitor, both listed for corrosion control, to protect the pipes. EPA’s lead 90th-percentile results for the system are low: recorded as zero in 2016 and 2022, 0.00119 mg/L in 2019 and 0.00055 mg/L in 2025. Each round was under the 0.015 mg/L action level.
Those figures describe homes sampled across the system, not any single house. The plumbing inside your walls is its own story, so a tap test is the way to know. If one finds lead, an Atlas Filtri Oasis Sanic reverse osmosis unit at the kitchen sink treats it and also takes out nitrate, arsenic and PFAS.
Township wells: soil first, then rock
For homes on wells, the state’s PaGWIS database holds 836 logs within 5 miles of Slippery Rock. Median depth is 120 feet and median yield 20 gallons a minute, with the middle half of yields between 15 and 34. Depth to bedrock varies widely: a median of 35 feet, with the middle half anywhere from 17 to 72. The rock mapped under the town is Allegheny Formation sandstone, shale, limestone, clay and coal.
Iron and manganese are the county’s common pair. Across the sampled wells in the Butler County record, 86 percent carried manganese above 0.05 mg/L. The FerronX Iron System removes both metals, and a LuxSoft softener can follow it where hardness shows up.
The Butler County record
USGS samples from Butler County wells, taken 1926–1997: 68% of wells hard or very hard, 56% over the iron line, 13% below pH 6.5. The full record, measure by measure, is on the Butler County water treatment page.
From our Greenville office
Slippery Rock is about 40 minutes and 26 miles by road from our Greenville office, and the municipalities around it get the same crews and the same drive: Slippery Rock Township, Liberty Township, West Liberty, Plain Grove Township, Mercer Township, Worth Township, Harrisville, Brady Township, Grove City, Cherry Township. Nearby on the map:
- West Liberty, PA
- Harrisville, PA
- Grove City, PA
- Barkeyville, PA
- Portersville, PA
- Volant, PA
- All of Butler County
Source: Water quality: USGS National Water Information System results for Butler County wells, served through the Water Quality Portal, sampled between 1926 and 1997, 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 Butler County, 324 wells with a recorded depth, retrieved 2026-09-14.
A LITTLE CLARITY
Slippery Rock Questions.
Straight Answers.
Do I need a softener on Slippery Rock municipal water?
Probably not as a first step. The authority lists reverse osmosis for softening, so hardness is reduced before the water reaches you. A test at your tap shows how many grains are left. If the water still leaves scale on fixtures, add a LuxSoft sized to the reading; otherwise, skip the softener and put the money elsewhere.
How is the authority’s reverse osmosis different from one under my sink?
The authority lists reverse osmosis to soften the water it supplies. An Oasis Sanic unit at your kitchen sink treats one tap and is aimed at different things: lead from household plumbing, nitrate, arsenic, PFAS and dissolved solids. One does not replace the other; the sink unit makes sense when a home test finds something at your own faucet.
What should a township well near Slippery Rock be tested for?
Iron, manganese, hardness and pH on site, plus bacteria and nitrate through a certified lab. pH matters: in the county record, 13 percent of sampled wells read below 6.5, and acidic water is treated with a calcite neutralizer. Testing here is handled by the Greenville office. Call (724) 588-2652 to book it.
Do you test water in Slippery Rock?
Yes. Chatfield’s water test and consultation cover Slippery Rock from our Greenville office, about 40 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 Slippery Rock
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.