Natural, or source, water must be treated before it is safe for human consumption.

Source water is classified as surface water— water collecting on the ground or in a stream, river, lake, sea or ocean, or ground water—water located beneath the ground surface. An aquifer is an area of rock or soil that can yield a usable quantity of water.

BCDES receives water from the city of Hamilton and the Greater Cincinnati Water Works. These diagrams illustrate how our suppliers treat water. Diagrams courtesy of the Greater Cincinnati Water Works.

Surface water treatment process

Greater Cincinnati Water Works

The Oho River is the major source of GCWW's water. GCWW uses granular activated carbon technology, a state-of-the-art process that allows them to use substantially less chlorine in the treatment process. GCWW has one of the largest GAC facilities in the U.S.

Ground water treatment process

City of Hamilton and Greater Cincinnati Water Works

The city of Hamilton and GCWW draw water from the Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer. Their wells are in the portion of the aquifer served by the Hamilton to New Baltimore Groundwater Consortium, which has developed an award-winning program to protect this source water.

Water distribution treatment

After the treated water arrives in our distribution system, BCDES adds chlorine to boost the disinfection levels to meet state regulations. We also add sodium carbonate (soda ash) in some areas of our system to buffer the water.