WATER SYSTEM STATS & FAST FACTS

quality and taste. Hamilton is also a proud member of the Hamilton to New Baltimore Groundwater Consortium which is a multi-jurisdictional collaboration charged with protecting the groundwater tapped by the cities of Hamilton, Fairfield and Cincinnati as well as the Southwestern Ohio Water Company, the Southwest Regional Water District, Butler County Water and Molson Coors.

• Number of Customers: 24,308

• Total Revenue (2021):

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• Top Customer (2021): Butler County

What Goes Into Making The Best Tasting Tap Water In The World?

It starts with raw water from the Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer. The same, nearly inexhaustible, aquifer that supports the cities of Dayton, Miamisburg, Franklin, Middletown, Hamilton, Fairfield, Oxford, Trenton, New Miami and Cincinnati with as much as 300 million gallons of raw ground water a day. Then come some pretty standard steps like aeration, softening, and clarifying of the raw water. Finally, unlike more typical, and easier, chlorination processes, Hamilton uses chlorine dioxide gas as a disinfectant. It works because the gas remains in a solution when under pressure in our water system but then it evaporates out almost instantly as water leaves the faucet. The result is a high-quality, safe drinking water with almost no residual chlorine taste - literally an award-winning combination.

Your Water System Needs Exercise

Thirty minutes of exercise a day is a good target for most people, but when it comes to the more than 320 miles of water distribution infrastructure in the city, a little twist once a year makes a huge difference in keeping it all in good working order. That twist comes in the form of our annual valve exercising and hydrant flushing programs. Valve exercising closes and opens each of the 5,000+ water main valves in the system which dislodges any naturally occurring buildup around the valve while ensuring that the valve is functioning properly. Hydrant flushing helps clear water mains of buildup and sediment and, as a bonus, exercises the hydrant’s valve at the same time. Both extend the usable life of these accessories, and any issues that are identified along the way are earmarked for repair. These practices ensure that our community has proper water pressure for fire protection and, should an issue occur, that it can be isolated to the fullest extent possible.

Before 1884, Hamilton residents drew water from private backyard wells and firefighters relied on a few large cisterns and hydraulic canals that had been built to supply water power to local industries. Over time, residents began to fear that the water wells in their yards were being contaminated by sewage and cases of typhoid were cited as circumstantial evidence. Soon after, an investigation reported that water samples from the Great Miami River were safer to drink than the water taken from backyard wells and as additional problems began to surface from our community’s water public pressure for a municipal water system mounted.

August 28, 1882, Hamilton voters gave official approval for the creation of a city water system. The vote was 1,405 in favor (81.3 percent) and 323 against.

The first municipal water system reservoir was located on Wilson Hill located between Millikin Street and Washington Boulevard. The six-million gallon reservoir sat 221 feet above High Street at the courthouse and 248 feet above the Great Miami River at low water, providing more than 90 psi of water pressure to most of Hamilton’s historic footprint. This original reservoir, while now modernized, is still part of the Hamilton water system today.

To complete the water system, 20 supply wells were dug and two large mains were built across the river.

The first water was pumped through city mains and to 300 hydrants across the city in July of 1884. By 1885, the city water system spanned 37-miles, had a pumping capacity of 300,000 gallons per day and served 2,604 customers.