The Cleaner, Greener, More Affordable Water Cooler for Cleveland

Cleveland, Ohio was established at the midpoint of Lake Erie on the banks of the Cuyahoga River in 1796. Back then, early settlers sourced Cleveland drinking water from local spring wells, causing many residents to get sick from water-borne diseases like cholera and dysentery. By 1853, the growing city began pumping water from Lake Erie for a safer source of water.

As the city grew, Lake Erie’s intake crib, the structure that protects water supply from pollutants, became compromised. To prevent sediment from polluting Cleveland tap water, city engineers built a new crib tunnel 6,000 feet offshore in Lake Erie. Eventually, the city extended intake cribs an additional 5 miles. Cleveland began adding chlorine to the distribution system in 1911, causing many residents to complain about Cleveland’s water quality. City planners reacted by building the Baldwin Filtration Plant and Reservoir, the city’s first filtration plant which improved tap quality by filtering chlorinated water.

Today, Cleveland represents the tenth largest public water system in the United States. The city provides over 300 million gallons of water to over 1.45 million people in Cuyahoga and its four surrounding counties. Cleveland continues to source its water from 4 intakes located offshore in Lake Erie’s Central Basin. About 90% of the water entering Lake Erie flows down the Detroit River from Lake St. Clair, and another 4% flows from the Maumee River.

In operation for over 150 years, Cleveland’s water system still has many of its original water mains constructed of cast iron. These older pipes are prone to corrosion and biofilm contamination, which create clusters of pipe deterioration and bacteria, resulting in a “rotten egg” taste and smell. Municipal water departments add high levels of chlorine to combat corrosion and contamination.

The Cleveland Water Public Water System monitors and treats Cleveland tap water to meet quality standards. However, water traveling over the land or through the ground often becomes exposed to runoff, sediment, chemical contamination, and microbial matter, and no single technique can adequately treat all pollutants. A recent water quality report shows that Cleveland drinking water may still contain at least small amounts of some contaminants such as soil runoff, fluoride, and halo acetic acids.