Powell's water, sewers and bathrooms, from Middlebury to Del-Co and the county sewer
Powell was a crossroads with a recorded plat in 1876 and a village of 324 people at the 1950 census. The two systems that serve it today, Del-Co Water and the Delaware County Regional Sewer District, were both founded in 1969, when it still had fewer than 400, and nearly all of its houses were built after them. This page sets out that record, the census since 1950, and when Powell's houses went up.
Last updated September 2026 · Records are the Census Bureau's and the 1880 county history's, with the city's, Del-Co Water's and the sewer district's own accounts marked as theirs, each read September 24, 2026 · No prices on this page; the Estimate Builder carries those · Part of the knowledge base
Middlebury, Hall Corners, and the 1876 plat
Powell began as a crossroads settlement known as Middlebury and as Hall Corners. The 1880 history of Delaware County says the village was surveyed and laid out in February 1876 and its plat recorded on March 29, 1876, for A. G. Hall. The city's own history says the area was settled by 1813 and had a post office from 1857. Powell was not an incorporated village while the Ohio State Board of Health existed, from 1886 to 1917, and the board's reports for 1886 to 1913 were searched only for the villages then incorporated, not for Powell.
A village from 1947
The 1950 census notes that Powell village was incorporated in 1947, and counted 324 people there. The city's history says nearly 400 residents in 1947; the first census count, three years later, was 324. Powell stayed under 400 through 1980, when the census counted 387, and then grew in every count: 2,154 in 1990, 6,247 in 2000, 11,500 in 2010 and 14,163 in 2020. The city's 2024 financial report gives 2001 as the year it became a city; its history page says 2000; both are given here.
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1950 | 324 |
| 1960 | 390 |
| 1970 | 374 |
| 1980 | 387 |
| 1990 | 2,154 |
| 2000 | 6,247 |
| 2010 | 11,500 |
| 2020 | 14,163 |
| Year | Housing units |
|---|---|
| 1970 | 120 |
| 1980 | 143 |
| 1990 | 752 |
| 2000 | 2,032 |
| 2010 | 3,975 |
| 2020 | 4,965 |
1969: Del-Co and the county sewer district
Powell's water and sewers come from two systems that were both founded in 1969, when Powell had fewer than 400 people: Del-Co Water, a member-owned cooperative that now reaches into eight counties, and the Delaware County Regional Sewer District. Del-Co Water says it was formed in 1969 and financed through the federal Farmers Home Administration, with an original plant of 1 million gallons a day, two hundred miles of underground pipe and a single elevated tank; it now runs four plants with a design capacity of 45 million gallons a day. The Delaware County Regional Sewer District was established June 2, 1969, and its Olentangy Environmental Control Center, near the Franklin County line, was completed in 1980 at 1.5 million gallons a day, with an interceptor planned to a quarter mile north of Powell Road. The year Powell itself joined each system was not found, and nothing was found on Powell's water or sewage before 1969.
| Date | What happened | Whose account |
|---|---|---|
| June 2, 1969 | Delaware County Regional Sewer District established | The district |
| 1969 | Del-Co Water formed, with an original plant of 1 million gallons a day, two hundred miles of pipe and a single elevated tank | Del-Co Water |
| November 8, 1973 | Plans approved for the district's Olentangy Environmental Control Center, with an interceptor to a quarter mile north of Powell Road | The district |
| 1980 | The Olentangy plant completed at 1.5 million gallons a day | The district |
| By 1996 | The Olentangy plant at 6 million gallons a day | The district |
| 2002 | The Alum Creek water reclamation facility, 10 million gallons a day | The district |
When Powell's houses were built
Powell's housing came almost entirely after those systems. In the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey the median year built for its 5,669 housing units is 2001, plus or minus 1; 16.5 percent were built in the 1980s, and the survey finds almost nothing from the 1940s through the 1970s. The survey puts 138 units, plus or minus 89, as built in 1939 or earlier, about 2.4 percent of the total. The page on Central Ohio house styles by era sets its newer houses against the region's older ones.
| Built | Housing units |
|---|---|
| 2020 or later | 292 (5.2 percent) |
| 2010 to 2019 | 844 (14.9 percent) |
| 2000 to 2009 | 1,893 (33.4 percent) |
| 1990 to 1999 | 1,475 (26.0 percent) |
| 1980 to 1989 | 937 (16.5 percent) |
| 1970 to 1979 | 80, plus or minus 61 (1.4 percent) |
| 1960 to 1969 | 0 (plus or minus 20) |
| 1950 to 1959 | 10, plus or minus 15 (0.2 percent) |
| 1940 to 1949 | 0 (plus or minus 20) |
| 1939 or earlier | 138, plus or minus 89 (2.4 percent) |
Where the water and sewage go now
The City of Powell names Del-Co Water and the Delaware County Regional Sewer District as its providers, as the page on water and sewer providers, town by town sets out. Del-Co's water hardness and pressure are on the pages on water hardness beyond Columbus and water pressure and your shower, and the county district's rule on where the owner's sewer line begins is on the page on sewer laterals and basement backups by town.
The short version. Powell's plat was recorded March 29, 1876, the village was incorporated in 1947 with 324 people at the 1950 census, and it stayed under 400 through 1980. Del-Co Water and the Delaware County Regional Sewer District, which serve it today, were both founded in 1969, and the district completed its Olentangy plant in 1980. Powell grew to 14,163 people by 2020, became a city in 2000 or 2001 by the city's two accounts, and its 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.
- W. H. Perrin and others, History of Delaware County and Ohio, 1880; read September 24, 2026.
- Del-Co Water, History and About; Delaware County Regional Sewer District, About Us; each its own account; read September 24, 2026.
- Ohio Auditor of State, City of Powell, 2024 annual comprehensive financial report; and City of Powell, Historic Powell, archived copy; 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
When was Powell, Ohio founded?
The 1880 history of Delaware County says the village was surveyed in February 1876 and its plat recorded March 29, 1876, at a settlement known as Middlebury and Hall Corners. The 1950 census notes that Powell was incorporated as a village in 1947, and counted 324 people there.
Where does Powell water come from?
The City of Powell names Del-Co Water, which says it was formed in 1969 with a 1 million gallon a day plant and now runs four plants with a design capacity of 45 million gallons a day.
Who treats Powell sewage?
The Delaware County Regional Sewer District, established June 2, 1969. Its Olentangy Environmental Control Center, near the Franklin County line, was completed in 1980 at 1.5 million gallons a day, with an interceptor planned to a quarter mile north of Powell Road.
When did Powell become a city?
The city's 2024 financial report says 2001, and the city's history page says 2000. The 2010 census publication records only that Powell changed from a village to a city between 2000 and 2010.
How new are the houses in Powell?
In the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey the median year built for Powell's 5,669 housing units is 2001, 16.5 percent were built in the 1980s, and about 2 percent, with a wide margin, were built in 1939 or earlier, with almost nothing from the decades between.
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