Frequently Asked Questions

The water treatment plant was originally built in 1941, with a major addition in 1956. While the facility is structurally sound and some equipment has been purchased throughout the years, the plant is being modernized with the best technologies available today and expanded so that staff can perform additional maintenance activities to increase performance and reliability.

This program will modernize and update plant equipment and processes to continue to reliably and efficiently produce high-quality, safe drinking water for all consumers for years to come. In addition, treatment improvements allow for accelerated response to ever-changing conditions on Lake Erie.

Water treatment professionals monitor water quality 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and on-site chemists perform more than 650 tests each day to ensure the safety and quality of our drinking water. New equipment, forecasting models and technology give us advance warning of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and allow our staff to view real-time data and adjust treatment processes accordingly.

Click here for the latest algal toxin tap level reports (posted during HAB season) and recent Water Reports

The City of Toledo takes extraordinary measures to ensure our water is safe and works in partnership with several agencies to monitor source water, treatment processes and drinking water quality. Our team works directly with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, Ohio EPA and several area universities to predict, monitor and research algal blooms.

Monitoring equipment on data sondes and buoys in Lake Erie allow staff to view real-time data to provide advance warning of changes in lake quality, allowing for adjustments in water treatment processes. Additional pretreatment facilities (permanganate and powdered activated carbon feed systems) and enhanced chlorine feed capabilities are in place to further protect our drinking water. Further upgrades at the water treatment plant are now under construction to provide state of art treatment technology.

Yes, all chemicals used to treat water are safe. We follow strict regulations to treat our water, and Toledo water meets or exceeds all U.S. EPA water quality standards. Toledo water treatment involves both chemical and filtration processes. Most of the material used to treat source water is removed during the treatment process and never reaches the tap. For more information, click here for the most recent Drinking Water Quality Information.

The local news media are informed if there is any reason citizens in a particular area should avoid consuming water. The City’s website and social media properties are updated regularly, and water advisory information would be sent via the Toledo and Lucas County Alerts text and email notification system. Click here to register for this service.

Yes, in January 2016, the Ohio EPA approved Toledo’s detailed comprehensive “General Plan of Improvements” to include the projects to implement the approved “General Plan.” The program is being completed within budget and on schedule.

Click here for a summary of the current program status.

Water rates for Toledo water customers will cover the planned $500 million capital improvement program. In 2020, a new rate structure took effect that will generate sufficient revenues to meet future debt service requirements for the remainder of the capital improvement program, Concurrently, the city will continue to seek funding sources to keep future water rates as low as possible for all water customers.

The Commission reviews the water operation capital improvement budgets of the City of Toledo and submit recommendations for adjusting water rates to Toledo City Council. The Commission members are comprised of water professionals from each of the contract jurisdictions that are supplied from Toledo's public water system. The purpose of the Commission is to provide a meaningful voice of the contract jurisdictions in the operation of the regional water system and set rates that are fair and equitable to all water customers.

The uniform contract signed by the City of Toledo and each of the communities supplied by water from Toledo specifies that a cost of service methodology be adopted for setting rates to cover the costs of operation maintenance, capital repair and maintenance. The rate setting methodology identifies common to all cost components of the Toledo water system and allocates such costs along Toledo, Lucas County and other contracting jurisdictions. All contract jurisdictions supplied water from Toledo are responsible for their own distribution systems, billing, and related costs.

The City of Toledo is an active participant in ongoing regional water discussions and contributed 50% of the cost to complete TMACOG’s Regional Water Rate Study. This study shows that the continued treatment and delivery of water supplied from the City of Toledo is in the financial best interests of all customers in the Toledo area. Since completion of the TMACOG study, the city has taken a key role working with area jurisdictions to reach a uniform agreement that will provide long-term stability to the water system and create a rate structure that will benefit regional customers for decades to come. The uniform agreement has been approved by Toledo City Council and the legislative bodies of Fulton County, Lucas County, City of Maumee, Monroe County South Water District, Northwest Water and Sewer District, City of Perrysburg, City of Sylvania and Village of Whitehouse. The new agreement took effect in 2020.