Reynoldsburg's water, sewers and bathrooms, from village wells to Blacklick Creek to Columbus
In 1905 Reynoldsburg told the state it drew its water from wells and had no waterworks of any kind. This page follows the public record from there: a federal water works allotment in 1934, a sewage plant of its own on Blacklick Creek that was overloaded by 1978, a village that grew tenfold in the 1950s, water and sewer service bought from Columbus today, and when Reynoldsburg's houses were built.
Last updated September 2026 · Records are the Ohio State Board of Health's, the Public Health Service's, the Environmental Protection Agency's and the Census Bureau's, with the City of Reynoldsburg's 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
The village of about 400
Reynoldsburg's reports to the Ohio State Board of Health describe a village that drew its water from wells and put its waste in privy vaults. In 1896 its report put the population at about 400 and described a stagnant pond near the school, with typhoid near it every year but the last; privy vaults were built just as each owner desired, with no rule on how far they sat from wells, and hog pens and slaughter houses were allowed inside the village. In 1900 night soil was mostly mixed with dry dirt and buried in garden lots. In 1905 the village said it plainly: wells were in general use for the water supply, and there were no waterworks of any kind.
| Year | What the record says | Whose record |
|---|---|---|
| 1896 | About 400 people; a stagnant pond near the school with typhoid near it every year but the last; privy vaults built as each owner chose, with no required distance from wells | State Board of Health |
| 1900 | Night soil mostly mixed with dry dirt and buried in garden lots | State Board of Health |
| 1905 | Wells in general use for water supply, and no waterworks of any kind | State Board of Health |
| 1934 | A federal Public Works Administration allotment for a Reynoldsburg water works system | Commercial and Financial Chronicle, September 8, 1934 |
| 1962 | Separate sewers serving 7,790 people and a sewage plant designed for 1.0 million gallons a day, discharging to Blacklick Creek | Public Health Service inventory |
| 1967 | Reynoldsburg on its own well field; Blacklick Creek below the village a water quality problem area | Ohio River Basin survey |
| 1978 | Its own 2.25 million gallon a day plant, overloaded, with untreated sewage bypassed to Blacklick Creek (described as occasional in one section and often in another); every regional plan sent its flow to Columbus; the water map shows Columbus serving it | Environmental Protection Agency draft impact statement |
| 2007 | The federal record shows a Reynoldsburg water treatment plant inactive since February 15, 2007 | Environmental Protection Agency drinking water record |
A water works on paper in 1934
The earliest record of a public water system found for this page is a federal one. The Commercial and Financial Chronicle of September 8, 1934, which printed the Public Works Administration's allotments, lists one to Reynoldsburg for a water works system. The paper itself warns that an allotment does not mean construction, and the year the works first served the village was not found. By 1967 a federal river basin survey describes Reynoldsburg on its own well field.
A sewage plant on Blacklick Creek
The Public Health Service's 1962 inventory shows Reynoldsburg with separate sanitary sewers serving 7,790 people and its own plant, designed for 1.0 million gallons a day, discharging to Blacklick Creek. The 1967 survey names Blacklick Creek below the village as a water quality problem area. By 1978 the federal Environmental Protection Agency's draft impact statement on Columbus-area sewage found Reynoldsburg still running its own plant, rated at 2.25 million gallons a day. One section says it reportedly needed occasional bypassing of untreated sewage to Blacklick Creek, and another calls it often so overloaded that untreated water was diverted directly to the creek. Every regional alternative the statement weighed sent Reynoldsburg's flow to Columbus's Southerly plant, most of them through a new interceptor along Blacklick Creek. The year that connection was made was not found.
From village to city
The census counted 339 people in Reynoldsburg in 1900 and 724 in 1950. The 1950 census notes that part of Truro Township had been annexed to the village in 1945, and more Truro land followed in the 1950s. By 1960 the count was 7,793, more than ten times the 1950 figure, and the 1960 tables still list Reynoldsburg as a village. It has grown in every count since.
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1900 | 339 |
| 1910 | 431 |
| 1920 | 491 |
| 1930 | 562 |
| 1940 | 652 |
| 1950 | 724 |
| 1960 | 7,793 |
| 1970 | 13,921 |
| 1980 | 20,661 |
| 1990 | 25,748 |
| 2000 | 32,069 |
| 2010 | 35,893 |
| 2020, estimates base | 41,074 |
| July 1, 2025, estimate | 43,350 |
When Reynoldsburg's houses were built
Reynoldsburg's housing grew in steady waves from the 1950s through the 1990s. In the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey, 13.3 percent of its 17,986 housing units were built before 1960, 43.0 percent before 1980, and the median year built is 1984, plus or minus 2. The 1970s and the 1990s each account for about a fifth. Houses built before 1978 bring the lead paint rules into a bathroom remodel, as the page on lead paint and asbestos explains.
| Built | Housing units | Share of all housing units |
|---|---|---|
| 1939 or earlier | 412 | 2.3 percent |
| 1940 to 1949 | 140 | 0.8 percent |
| 1950 to 1959 | 1,835 | 10.2 percent |
| 1960 to 1969 | 1,725 | 9.6 percent |
| 1970 to 1979 | 3,613 | 20.1 percent |
| 1980 to 1989 | 2,992 | 16.6 percent |
| 1990 to 1999 | 3,609 | 20.1 percent |
| 2000 to 2009 | 2,686 | 14.9 percent |
| 2010 to 2019 | 834 | 4.6 percent |
| 2020 or later | 140 | 0.8 percent |
Where the water and sewage go now
The City of Reynoldsburg says its water and sewer services are purchased from the City of Columbus. The federal drinking water record carries a Reynoldsburg system that buys treated surface water, with a connection to the Columbus system and a Reynoldsburg treatment plant listed as inactive since February 15, 2007; what that plant treated, and in which years, the record does not say. Reynoldsburg's lead service line and PFAS results are on the pages on lead service lines by water system and PFAS test results. Who owns which part of a house's sewer lateral, town by town, is on the page on sewer laterals and basement backups by town.
The short version. In 1905 Reynoldsburg told the Ohio State Board of Health its water came from wells and it had no waterworks of any kind. A federal allotment for a water works system followed in 1934; by 1962 the village ran its own sewage plant on Blacklick Creek and by 1967 its own well field; in 1978 that plant was overloaded and every regional plan sent its sewage to Columbus. Today the city buys water and sewer service from Columbus. The census counted 724 people in 1950 and 7,793 in 1960, and the median house was built in 1984.
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, 1896, 1900 and 1905, full text at the Internet Archive (items annualreportofst followed by the year and ohio); read September 24, 2026.
- Commercial and Financial Chronicle, September 8, 1934, Public Works Administration allotments, page 1577; read September 24, 2026.
- U.S. Public Health Service, Municipal Waste Facilities, 1962 Inventory, Region V, Ohio entries; read September 24, 2026.
- Ohio River Basin Comprehensive Survey, Volume V, Appendix D, 1967; read September 24, 2026.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region V, Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Columbus metropolitan area wastewater facilities, February 1978, sections 3.1.3 and 3.2, pages III-23 to III-24 and VII-28, and Figure II-6; 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, decennial census volumes: 1910 Volume III, Ohio, 1930 Volume I, Ohio, 1950 Volume I, Ohio, 1960 Volume I, Part 37, and the 1990 and 2010 Population and Housing Unit Counts for Ohio; and the 2020 to 2025 city population estimates; read September 24, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates, tables B25034 Year Structure Built and B25035 Median Year Structure Built, for the place, through Census Reporter; read September 24, 2026.
- City of Reynoldsburg, Water and Wastewater Department, the city's own statement; read September 24, 2026.
Common questions
When did Reynoldsburg get a water works?
In 1905 the village told the Ohio State Board of Health that wells were in general use and it had no waterworks of any kind. In 1934 the federal Public Works Administration made an allotment for a Reynoldsburg water works system, though an allotment did not mean construction. The first year of service was not found.
Did Reynoldsburg treat its own sewage?
Yes. The Public Health Service's 1962 inventory shows a Reynoldsburg sewage plant serving 7,790 people and discharging to Blacklick Creek, and in 1978 the federal Environmental Protection Agency found a larger plant so overloaded that untreated sewage was at times bypassed to the creek, with every regional plan it weighed sending the flow to Columbus.
Where does Reynoldsburg water come from now?
The City of Reynoldsburg says its water and sewer services are purchased from the City of Columbus. The federal drinking water record shows a connection to the Columbus system and a Reynoldsburg treatment plant listed as inactive since February 15, 2007.
How old are the houses in Reynoldsburg?
In the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey, the median year built for Reynoldsburg's 17,986 housing units is 1984, 13.3 percent were built before 1960 and 43.0 percent before 1980, and the 1970s and the 1990s each account for about a fifth.
What did Reynoldsburg report to the state in 1896?
About 400 people, a stagnant pond near the school with typhoid near it every year but the last, privy vaults built as each owner chose with no required distance from wells, and hog pens and slaughter houses allowed inside the village, by its report to the Ohio State Board of Health.
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