Canal Winchester's water, sewers and bathrooms, from the canal to the 1918 water plant
Canal Winchester told the Ohio State Board of Health in 1898 that it had no sewerage. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency dates its water plant to 1918 and its sewage plant on Walnut Creek to 1960. This page sets out that record from the canal era on, the census since 1890, when the town's houses were built, and a creek the state in 2010 said overflows several times a year.
Last updated September 2026 · Records are the Ohio State Board of Health's, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's and the Census Bureau's, with the city's own history marked as the city's, each read September 24, 2026 · No prices on this page; the Estimate Builder carries those · Part of the knowledge base
A canal town, platted three ways
Canal Winchester grew up on the Ohio and Erie Canal, and the sources do not agree on when it was laid out. The 1880 county history says Reuben Dove laid it out in 1826 or 1827; a 1909 history of Columbus and Franklin County says 1826, by John Coleman and Reuben Dove; the city's own history gives the first plat as recorded November 5, 1828, in Violet Township, Fairfield County, and the village's incorporation as May 31, 1866. All three are given here. The town moved into Franklin County in 1851, when six sections were annexed to Madison Township, and the 1950 census still counted seven of its people in Fairfield County. It was a village at the 2010 census and a city by 2020; the exact date was not found.
What the village told the state, 1888 to 1898
Canal Winchester's reports to the Ohio State Board of Health describe the problems of a canal village. In 1892 the greatest defect its health officer named was uncemented privy vaults. In 1895 it was an open ditch running through the town and the low stage of water in the canal during the summer months. In 1898 the report was two words about the sewers: no sewerage. A search of the scanned text of the reports from 1886 to 1913 found no description of a public water supply or a sewer system for Canal Winchester. The population figures in those reports are the health officer's estimates, 1,100 in 1888 and 800 in 1898, and they do not match the census, which counted 633 in 1890 and 662 in 1900.
| Year | What the record says | Whose record |
|---|---|---|
| 1888 | The health officer's estimate of 1,100 people; the village board of health organized November 12, 1888 | State Board of Health |
| 1892 | An estimate of 800; the greatest defect named was uncemented privy vaults | State Board of Health |
| 1895 | An open ditch through the town, and the low water in the canal in summer | State Board of Health |
| 1898 | An estimate of 800, and no sewerage | State Board of Health |
| 1918 | The water treatment plant originally built | Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, 2023 |
| 1960 | The sewage treatment plant on Walnut Creek constructed | Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, 2025 |
| 2006 | The water plant expanded to 2.0 million gallons a day | Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, 2023 |
| 2015 | The sewage plant last upgraded | Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, 2025 |
A 1918 water plant and a 1960 sewage plant
Two dates come from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's reviews of the city's own projects. Its April 5, 2023 review says the city's water treatment plant, now the Roy Crist Water Treatment Facility, was originally built in 1918 and was expanded in 2006 from 0.720 to 2.0 million gallons a day; it draws on five wells. Its January 6, 2025 review says the wastewater plant on Walnut Creek was constructed in 1960, with its last upgrade in 2015, and that it serves Canal Winchester, Lithopolis and part of Pickerington. The same review describes wet-weather sewage backing up into basements and overflowing in residential areas, temporary pumps brought in in 2017, and a rebuilt headworks, the plant's intake, scheduled to start construction in January 2025 and take about 24 months. The city says all of its water mains date from the 1950s or later, most installed after 1990, and that its 2024 service line inventory found no lead service lines.
From village to city, by the census
Canal Winchester held between about 600 and 1,200 people from 1890 to 1950, reached 2,617 in 1990, and more than tripled after that, to 9,107 in 2020. The census printed 989 housing units for both 1980 and 1990, while the population fell between the two counts from 2,749 to 2,617. The city's own history gives 4,478 for 2000; the census counted 4,491.
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1890 | 633 |
| 1900 | 662 |
| 1910 | 740 |
| 1920 | 791 |
| 1930 | 906 |
| 1940 | 1,046 |
| 1950 | 1,194 |
| 1960 | 1,976 |
| 1970 | 2,412 |
| 1980 | 2,749 |
| 1990 | 2,617 |
| 2000 | 4,491 |
| 2010 | 7,101 |
| 2020 | 9,107 |
| Year | Housing units |
|---|---|
| 1970 | 823 |
| 1980 | 989 |
| 1990 | 989 |
| 2000 | 1,782 |
| 2010 | 2,893 |
| 2020 | 3,550 |
When Canal Winchester's houses were built
Most of the town's housing is new. In the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey, the median year built for its 3,996 housing units is 2001, plus or minus 2, and about half, 53 percent in the estimate, were built in 2000 or later. The older rows are small counts with wide margins, and the survey's 1940s row reads zero, plus or minus 20.
| Built | Housing units |
|---|---|
| 2020 or later | 242 (6.1 percent) |
| 2010 to 2019 | 748 (18.7 percent) |
| 2000 to 2009 | 1,118 (28.0 percent) |
| 1990 to 1999 | 814 (20.4 percent) |
| 1980 to 1989 | 206 (5.2 percent) |
| 1970 to 1979 | 256 (6.4 percent) |
| 1960 to 1969 | 176 (4.4 percent) |
| 1950 to 1959 | 174 (4.4 percent) |
| 1940 to 1949 | 0 (plus or minus 20) |
| 1939 or earlier | 262 (6.6 percent) |
Walnut Creek
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's 2010 report on the Walnut Creek watershed shows the creek over its banks in Canal Winchester in a spring 2008 rain and says such events occur several times each year in that basin. The same report notes that Canal Winchester adopted a storm water design manual with stream corridor protection in 2008. River floods and the flood insurance claims in Central Ohio are on the pages on Central Ohio floods, dams and floodwalls and flood insurance claims by ZIP code.
Where the water and sewage go now
Canal Winchester treats its own well water and its own sewage, as the page on water and sewer providers, town by town sets out, with a separate public water system, listed in the federal drinking water record, for the Canal Pointe industrial park. Its water hardness is on the page on water hardness beyond Columbus.
The short version. Canal Winchester was platted on the Ohio and Erie Canal in 1826, 1827 or 1828, depending on the source. Its reports to the Ohio State Board of Health describe uncemented privy vaults in 1892, an open ditch and a low canal in 1895, and no sewerage in 1898. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency dates its water plant to 1918 and its sewage plant on Walnut Creek to 1960. The census counted 1,194 people in 1950 and 9,107 in 2020, and the median house was built in 2001.
Sources
Every figure, date and quotation on this page comes from one of these documents, read on the date given. Where two of them disagree, the page says so.
- Ohio State Board of Health, Annual Reports, 1886 to 1913, full text at the Internet Archive (items annualreportofst followed by the year and ohio), searched for Canal Winchester; read September 24, 2026.
- Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, loan environmental review, water line improvements, April 5, 2023, and loan environmental review, wastewater plant headworks, January 6, 2025; read September 24, 2026.
- Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Total Maximum Daily Loads for the Walnut Creek Watershed, February 2, 2010; read September 24, 2026.
- Williams Brothers, History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio, 1880; read September 24, 2026.
- William A. Taylor, Centennial History of Columbus and Franklin County, 1909; read September 24, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau: 1900 Bulletin 41, 1920 Number of Inhabitants, Ohio, 1950 Volume I, Ohio, 1960 Volume I, Ohio, the 1990 and 2010 Population and Housing Unit Counts for Ohio, and the 2020 census counts through TIGERweb; read September 24, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates, tables B25034 and B25035, for the place, through Census Reporter; read September 24, 2026.
- City of Canal Winchester, history page and Water, the city's own account; read September 24, 2026.
Common questions
When did Canal Winchester get a public water plant?
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency says the city's water treatment plant, now the Roy Crist Water Treatment Facility, was originally built in 1918. It was expanded in 2006 from 0.720 to 2.0 million gallons a day and draws on five wells.
When did Canal Winchester get a sewage treatment plant?
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency says the wastewater plant on Walnut Creek was constructed in 1960 and last upgraded in 2015. In 1898 the village told the Ohio State Board of Health it had no sewerage.
Does Canal Winchester have lead water lines?
The city says its 2024 service line inventory found no lead service lines, and that all of its water mains date from the 1950s or later, most of them installed after 1990.
Why have Canal Winchester basements taken on sewage in heavy rain?
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's 2025 review of the city's project says the sewage plant's headworks could not keep up in wet weather, causing sewage backups in basements and overflows in residential areas. Temporary pumps were added in 2017, and a rebuilt headworks was scheduled to start construction in January 2025 and take about two years.
When was Canal Winchester founded?
The sources differ. The 1880 county history says it was laid out in 1826 or 1827, a 1909 history says 1826, and the city gives its first plat as recorded November 5, 1828 and its incorporation as a village as May 31, 1866.
Does Walnut Creek flood in Canal Winchester?
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's 2010 Walnut Creek report shows the creek over its banks in Canal Winchester in a spring 2008 rain and says such events occur several times each year in that basin.
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