Summit County, Ohio: drinking water report. Summit County in northeastern Ohio includes Akron and surrounding communities, with a population of about…
Summit County in northeastern Ohio includes Akron and surrounding communities, with a population of about 540,000. The City of Akron draws water from Lake Rockwell and several reservoirs on the Cuyahoga River's tributaries, while suburban communities use a mix of Akron-supplied wholesale water and independent groundwater systems. The county's industrial heritage – rubber manufacturing, chemical production, polymer research – has left contamination signatures across the landscape.
Akron's historical role as the rubber capital of the world means the county's soil and groundwater carry decades of industrial residue. According to the Ohio EPA's 2024 remediation status report, 12 active contamination cleanup sites in Summit County involve chlorinated solvents or petroleum products in groundwater. While the city's surface water supply avoids these plumes directly, some suburban well systems draw from aquifers that intersect with contamination zones.
The EPA's UCMR5 data shows PFAS detections at sampling points in Summit County systems. The Akron-Canton Airport has used AFFF firefighting foam, and PFAS contamination has been documented in groundwater near the facility. A 2024 Ohio EPA monitoring report found three public water systems in the county with PFAS detections above Ohio's action level of 70 ppt for combined PFOS and PFOA.
Summit County's contamination is location-dependent. Akron's reservoir-supplied system faces different risks than suburban well systems sitting above industrial contamination plumes. Knowing your source matters.
Check your water to see data for your specific provider and ZIP code. For industrial solvents, activated carbon filters certified to NSF 53 are effective. For PFAS, reverse osmosis adds broader protection. Our water filter guide matches filter types to specific contaminant categories. Pull your detailed report for historical trends, and visit our Ohio page for statewide context.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Summit County, OH.
The EPA places Summit 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.
69% of homes in Summit County, OH were built before 1980, and 27% 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 Summit County, OH averages 8.2 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