Updated
Cleveland water, from the lake's Central Basin to your faucet
Cleveland Water serves about 1.4 million customers, all from Lake Erie. The lake supplies drinking water to more than 11 million people in total, so what happens upstream matters well beyond the city.
Why the intakes sit miles offshore
The utility runs four intakes in Lake Erie's Central Basin, spread over about 15 miles of shoreline and set 3 to 5 miles out. That distance is deliberate. Water out there is cleaner and less affected by tributary runoff and shoreline activity than water near the beach. Because the source is surface water, the report asks residents to help protect it: dispose of pesticides, motor oil and oil-based paint at hazardous waste collection events, plant native species, and add trees and ground cover to cut stormwater runoff.
The four plants
| Plant | In operation since | Average daily output |
|---|---|---|
| Garrett A. Morgan | 1918 | 60 million gallons |
| Baldwin | 1925 | 59.5 million gallons |
| Nottingham | 1951 | 50 million gallons |
| Crown | 1958 | 40 million gallons |
All four use conventional coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection, and all take part in the voluntary Partnership for Safe Water, which sets performance targets above the legal minimum. Crown has held the Partnership's Phase 4 certification since 2014. In 2025 the highest treated-water turbidity reading was 0.22 NTU, the limits were met 100% of the time, and none of 4,261 distribution samples tested positive for coliform. Staff watch more than 20,000 process parameters and take more than 350 distribution samples each month.
What's in the water
- Hardness: 105–130 mg/L, average 117 (about 6.8 gpg). Convert to other units with the hardness converter.
- Sodium: about 10 mg/L. Chloride is about 18 mg/L and total dissolved solids about 180 mg/L.
- Fluoride: added for dental health, about 1 mg/L.
- Disinfection byproducts: the system averages are about 39 ppb for total trihalomethanes and 15 ppb for HAA5, against limits of 80 and 60.
- PFAS and lithium: none detected in 646 UCMR 5 tests.
Lead: low numbers, older pipes
Cleveland Water says its lead results have stayed under the federal 15 ppb action level for 25 years, which is why it's allowed to monitor on a reduced schedule. The latest compliance round (June–September 2024) tested 52 high-risk Tier 1 homes and found a 90th percentile of 3.15 ppb. The one outlier is described in the FAQ below.
Some homes in the service area still have lead service lines or lead in their plumbing. The utility's strategy has several layers. It adds orthophosphate, which forms a protective coating inside pipes (about 1.25 mg/L on average). It keeps the pH of water leaving the plants above 7. It replaces lead lines during main repairs and through its Lead Service Line Replacement Program. It also runs a Lead Service Line Research Facility to help develop cheaper ways to find where lead lines are buried. If you live in an older house, a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead is a sensible precaution. Our filter selector can help you pick one.
Questions Clevelanders ask
Does Cleveland water contain PFAS?
Not at detectable levels in recent testing. Under EPA's fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, Cleveland Water tested water from all four plants for 29 PFAS compounds plus lithium. None of the 646 tests detected anything. The utility says it has PFAS treatment plans ready if that ever changes.
Why was one Cleveland lead sample 1,997 ppb?
In the 2024 compliance round, 1 of 52 homes came back above the 15 ppb action level, at 1,997 ppb. A single extreme result like that usually points to plumbing at that one address, such as a lead service line, solder or a fixture, not to the water leaving the plant. The system-wide 90th percentile was 3.15 ppb.
Is Cleveland water hard?
It's moderately hard. The report gives a range of 105–130 mg/L as calcium carbonate with an average of 117 mg/L, which is roughly 6.8 grains per gallon. You may see some spotting and kettle scale, but many households get by without a softener.
How long should I run the tap if water has sat overnight?
Cleveland Water recommends flushing for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before you drink or cook with water that has sat in your pipes for several hours.
Where these numbers come from
Reviewed November 1, 2026 against the sources above. Public water system ID OH1801212 (Cleveland Water). Figures describe the utility's system, not your home's plumbing; a certified lab test tells you what comes out of your tap. Spot an error? Tell us.