Stark County, Ohio: drinking water report. Stark County in northeast Ohio includes Canton and about 374,000 residents.
Stark County in northeast Ohio includes Canton and about 374,000 residents. Water comes from a mix of surface sources – Deer Creek Reservoir, Sippo Lake – and groundwater, managed by the City of Canton, Aqua Ohio, and other providers. The county's manufacturing base, centered on steel, automotive parts, and specialty metals, operated at high capacity through most of the 20th century.
The Industrial Excess Landfill in Uniontown is a Superfund site that accepted industrial waste from the 1960s through the 1980s. According to the EPA's 2024 five-year review, volatile organic compounds including vinyl chloride and benzene continue to be detected in groundwater downgradient from the site, though at declining concentrations. Residents near the landfill receive bottled water or are connected to public supply as part of the remedy.
The Akron-Canton Airport, straddling the Stark-Summit county line, has documented AFFF use. Ohio EPA's 2024 PFAS investigation detected PFOS at 14 ppt in nearby monitoring wells. The EPA's UCMR5 program also identified PFAS in Canton's public water supply at levels requiring enhanced monitoring under the new federal rules.
Stark County's industrial legacy is concentrated in specific areas, so your risk depends on proximity to known sites. The Industrial Excess Landfill area and the Akron-Canton Airport corridor represent the highest concern zones for groundwater users.
Check your water for the latest monitoring data. For volatile organic compounds and PFAS, reverse osmosis handles both effectively. Our water filter guide ranks systems by certified performance. Pull your detailed report for local trends, and visit our Ohio page for statewide data.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Stark County, OH.
The EPA places Stark County, OH in Zone 1 - the EPA's highest-risk category, where the predicted average indoor radon level is above 4 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
72% of homes in Stark County, OH were built before 1980, and 28% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Stark County, OH averages 8.5 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide