Groveport's water, sewers and bathrooms, from two canal towns to the Columbus Southerly plant
In 1895 Groveport told the Ohio State Board of Health that its chief sanitary defect was an open ditch through town, and that it stayed because of a lack of funds to put in sewer pipe. This page follows the record from the two canal plats that made the town, through a 1911 storm sewer the state advised cutting off from every house, to a town split today between its own wells and Columbus water, with the census since 1890 and the age of its houses.
Last updated September 2026 · Records are the Ohio State Board of Health's, the Census Bureau's and the federal drinking water record, with the city's own statements 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
Two canal plats and one charter
Groveport began as two rival plats on the Ohio and Erie Canal. The 1880 county history dates Wert's Grove to September 1843 and Rarey's Port to February 1844, and says the legislature chartered the combined town at its session of 1846 and 1847, with its first officers elected in the spring of 1847; the post office opened in 1844. The city's own financial report says the two merged in 1847 and that its charter was adopted in 1990. Groveport was a village at the 2010 census and a city by 2020; the exact date was not found.
"Lack of funds to put in sewer pipe"
Groveport's report to the Ohio State Board of Health for 1895 answered the first two of the board's standard questions directly. Its chief sanitary defect was an open ditch going through the town, without enough fall to carry off all the refuse thrown into it. And the reason the defect remained was lack of funds to put in sewer pipe. In 1904 the village, then about 600 people by the officer's estimate, reported that no abandoned wells were used to take house drainage.
1911: a storm sewer carrying house wastes
By 1911 Groveport had a storm sewer, and houses had connected to it. The State Board of Health's report for that year records that the mayor asked the board for help with a nuisance, and that an investigation on August 7 traced it to the improper use of a storm sewer. The board advised him that the only remedy was to disconnect every house connection, so that creamery wastes, cesspool overflows and wash water would no longer reach the sewer. The report does not say whether that was done. No report from 1886 to 1913 describes a public water supply or a sanitary sewer system for Groveport, and the year of the town's first water works and first sanitary sewer was not found in any document read for this page.
From village to city, by the census
Groveport counted 578 people in 1890, 1,165 in 1950 and 6,009 in 2020. It fell back between 1980 and 1990, from 3,286 to 2,948, and has grown since.
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1890 | 578 |
| 1900 | 519 |
| 1910 | 643 |
| 1920 | 671 |
| 1930 | 946 |
| 1940 | 1,052 |
| 1950 | 1,165 |
| 1960 | 2,043 |
| 1970 | 2,490 |
| 1980 | 3,286 |
| 1990 | 2,948 |
| 2000 | 3,865 |
| 2010 | 5,363 |
| 2020 | 6,009 |
| Year | Housing units |
|---|---|
| 1970 | 774 |
| 1980 | 1,197 |
| 1990 | 1,137 |
| 2000 | 1,668 |
| 2010 | 2,300 |
| 2020 | 2,488 |
When Groveport's houses were built
Groveport keeps a large share of old houses. In the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey, 19.7 percent of its 2,334 housing units, plus or minus 7.7 points, were built in 1939 or earlier, and the median year built is 1990, plus or minus 14; a margin that wide means the median is a rough guide only. Houses of that age bring the questions set out on the pages on supply pipes by era and lead paint and asbestos before 1978.
| Built | Housing units |
|---|---|
| 2020 or later | 8 (0.3 percent) |
| 2010 to 2019 | 197 (8.4 percent) |
| 2000 to 2009 | 505 (21.6 percent) |
| 1990 to 1999 | 481 (20.6 percent) |
| 1980 to 1989 | 41 (1.8 percent) |
| 1970 to 1979 | 265 (11.4 percent) |
| 1960 to 1969 | 138 (5.9 percent) |
| 1950 to 1959 | 186 (8.0 percent) |
| 1940 to 1949 | 54 (2.3 percent) |
| 1939 or earlier | 459 (19.7 percent) |
Two water systems, one sewer destination
Groveport is split: some addresses are on the city's own two wells and others on Columbus water, and the city's utility page said in 2023 that those on the Columbus system pay a storm water fee only twice a year. All of its sewage goes to the Columbus Southerly treatment plant, as the page on water and sewer providers, town by town sets out. The city's financial reports carry a Columbus usage surcharge fund, which they book with the water accounts, for charges payable to Columbus for maintaining its lines. The federal drinking water record lists the Groveport system as groundwater serving 3,229 people. How the Columbus sewer system grew, and its contract suburbs, is on the page on Columbus sewers, then and now.
The short version. Groveport grew from two canal plats, Wert's Grove in 1843 and Rarey's Port in 1844, chartered together in 1846 and 1847. In 1895 it told the Ohio State Board of Health its chief defect was an open ditch through town, unremedied for lack of funds to put in sewer pipe, and in 1911 the state advised disconnecting every house from a storm sewer carrying creamery wastes and cesspool overflows. The years of its first water works and sanitary sewers were not found. Today part of the town is on its own wells and part on Columbus water, and all its sewage goes to Columbus.
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 Groveport; read September 24, 2026.
- Williams Brothers, History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio, 1880; read September 24, 2026.
- Ohio Auditor of State, City of Groveport, 2024 annual comprehensive financial report; read September 24, 2026.
- City of Groveport, Utilities and History, archived copies; read September 24, 2026.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Safe Drinking Water Information System records through Envirofacts; 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.
Common questions
How did Groveport get its name?
From two plats on the Ohio and Erie Canal, Wert's Grove of 1843 and Rarey's Port of 1844, joined into one town. The 1880 county history says the legislature chartered it at its session of 1846 and 1847, and its first officers were elected in the spring of 1847.
Did early Groveport have sewers?
In 1895 Groveport's health officer told the Ohio State Board of Health its chief defect was an open ditch through the town, left because of lack of funds to put in sewer pipe. By 1911 there was a storm sewer, and the state advised disconnecting every house from it because it was carrying creamery wastes and cesspool overflows.
Where does Groveport water come from?
Some Groveport addresses are on the city's own two wells and others on Columbus water, billed differently, and all of the town's sewage goes to the Columbus Southerly treatment plant. The federal drinking water record lists the Groveport system as groundwater serving 3,229 people.
How old are the houses in Groveport?
In the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey, 19.7 percent of Groveport's 2,334 housing units, plus or minus 7.7 points, were built in 1939 or earlier, and the median year built is 1990, with a margin of 14 years.
When did Groveport first get public water?
No document read for this page gives the year of Groveport's first water works or its first sanitary sewer. The Ohio State Board of Health reports from 1886 to 1913 describe neither.
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