Water Use in Marion County, Ohio. 3 Ohio-American Water Company also serves surrounding suburban areas. 4 Surface water from the Scioto and Little Scioto rivers normally supplies 75 to 80 percent of supply needs according to the Ohio-American Water Company. In both surface and ground waters in the county, the presence of certain minerals and agricultural chemicals has caused some concern about water quality. Most of the minerals are naturally occurring, such as iron, sulfates and dissolved solids.
Water hardness is a problem in many areas.
Human activities, such as agricultural production, domestic waste disposal and lawn and turf care may have some influence on ground-water quality in Marion County. This range is assumed to represent natural background levels. The average test value of the 68 wells tested was 0.2 ppm. The state average in 1987, based upon 16,166 wells tested, was 1.3 ppm. Northern Marion county has 40,600 acres of farmland that lies within the boundaries of the Lake Erie drainage basin.