Belmont County, Ohio: drinking water report. Belmont County sits in eastern Ohio along the West Virginia border, with Martins Ferry, St.
Belmont County sits in eastern Ohio along the West Virginia border, with Martins Ferry, St. Clairsville, and Shadyside serving as major population centers. The county's 26 ZIP codes draw water from a mix of Ohio River intake points, small municipal systems, and private wells scattered across rural townships. This patchwork of sources means water quality varies significantly depending on whether residents receive treated surface water from larger utilities or rely on untreated groundwater.
Ohio River communities face the challenge of treating surface water contaminated by upstream industrial discharge and agricultural runoff. Belmont County's municipal systems typically meet federal standards for regulated contaminants, but the EPA's most recent UCMR5 testing program has identified PFAS detection in Ohio River basin communities throughout the region. These forever chemicals accumulate from decades of industrial activity, including manufacturing operations and legacy contamination from sites no longer in operation. While specific concentrations vary by utility and sampling period, the Ohio River watershed consistently shows detectable PFAS levels that require ongoing monitoring.
Lead exposure remains a concern in older housing stock throughout Martins Ferry and other established communities. Homes built before 1986 may have lead service lines or lead solder in plumbing systems, and the corrosive nature of some local water sources can leach lead into drinking water. Ohio's lead and copper rule testing shows periodic exceedances in small systems, particularly those lacking optimal corrosion control treatment. Rural residents on private wells face different challenges, including naturally occurring metals, nitrate contamination from agricultural areas, and bacterial contamination following heavy rainfall events. Private wells remain unregulated and untested unless homeowners take initiative.
Industrial history complicates the picture. Belmont County's coal mining legacy and historical manufacturing operations have left potential sources of groundwater contamination, including abandoned mine drainage that can affect both surface water and shallow aquifers. While active remediation efforts address known sites, emerging contaminants and undocumented disposal areas continue surfacing. The county's position in the Marcellus Shale region has also raised questions about potential impacts from oil and gas operations, though comprehensive long-term monitoring data remains limited.
Test your water annually if you rely on a private well, focusing on bacteria, nitrates, and metals. Municipal customers should request recent testing results from their utility and consider point-of-use filtration for PFAS and lead, especially in homes with older plumbing. Check your water for the most current contamination data in your area, review our water filter guide to find appropriate treatment options, download a detailed report with full testing history, or visit the Ohio state page for broader context on water quality issues affecting the region.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Belmont County, OH.
The EPA places Belmont County, OH in Zone 1 - the EPA's highest-risk category, where the predicted average indoor radon level is above 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
73% of homes in Belmont County, OH were built before 1980, and 35% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Belmont County, OH averages 8.8 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide
16 public water systems serving Belmont County, OH have EPA lead testing on record. The reported lead sample skews toward systems that already flagged a problem, so its exceedance rate is not directly comparable with other areas. 4 water systems serving Belmont County, OH carry a health-based EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violation.
| Most-cited violation type | Systems affected |
|---|---|
| Lead and Copper Rule Revisions | 3 |
| Lead and Copper Rule | 1 |
| Surface Water Treatment Rule | 1 |
| Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule | 1 |
| Haloacetic Acids (HAA5) | 1 |
Source: EPA Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile tap sampling and EPA SDWIS Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement records, aggregated from the public water systems serving this county. Figures are counts of water systems, not a test of any individual home or tap.