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Central Ohio water and plumbing

How Westerville got its water works, its sewers and its bathrooms

Westerville voted to build a water works and a sanitary sewer system on the same day, August 19, 1901, and the Ohio State Board of Health approved the sewer plans in January 1902 and the well supply that June. Building the pipes and using them were two different things: a year after the sewers went in, the state's inspector counted twenty-one houses and one creamery connected to them. This page follows the town's water and its waste from the fire insurance maps of the 1890s to what the 1950 census counted in Westerville's 1,194 dwelling units. Every sentence names the document its figures come from.

Last updated September 2026 · Figures are the Ohio State Board of Health's, the Sanborn Map Company's, the Census Bureau's and the city's own, read September 2026 · No prices on this page; the Estimate Builder carries those · Part of the knowledge base

A village of about 1,500 people, and what the maps said about its water

The City of Westerville says Matthew and Peter Westervelt bought 890 acres along the eastern bank of Alum Creek on January 24, 1816, and that the community was officially named Westerville in 1840. The city's history documents date its incorporation as a village to 1858, the year John Haywood was elected first mayor, and record that the United Brethren Church opened Otterbein at Westerville in 1847; Otterbein University gives the same founding year. The Ohio State Board of Health, quoting the federal census of 1900, put the village at 1,462 inhabitants.

What that village had for water was printed by an insurance mapmaker. In the title block of sheet 1 of its Westerville map for June 1894, the Sanborn Map Company summed the town up in four words: "Water Facilities: Not Good." It printed the same words on its map of May 1900, that time without the colon, and the 1894 sheet also records that the streets were not paved. The village voted to build a water works in August of the following year.

What Westerville did have is in the Ohio State Board of Health's annual report for 1902. In January of that year the village's consulting engineer told the board that "No public improvements have been made beyond the grading of the streets," the sidewalks, and the storm water sewers and drains, to which house connections had evidently been made. The same statement describes household waste running in an open run in the southwestern part of the village, which the engineer said "in the summer months creates quite a nuisance."

August 19, 1901: water works and sewers voted on the same day

The board's 1902 report records that on August 19, 1901 "the electors of the village voted to issue" bonds for a system of water works and for a system of sewers. The two were voted together and built together, so the water main and the sanitary sewer under a Westerville street are the same generation of work rather than a generation apart.

The sewers were approved first. Plans for a separate sanitary system "consisting of four and seven-tenths miles of sewers," of vitrified salt-glazed pipe with cemented joints, were presented on January 15, 1902, and notice of approval went out on January 20. The water side took five months longer: the board's engineer visited on June 4, 1902 and the letter of approval was sent on June 24, after the board's own chemist reported the test well water "much harder than is desirable in a public supply." What the board approved was four eight-inch wells drilled about 175 feet deep, through soil and clay into a layer of gravel and sand where the water was found, with shale below.

The city and the state do not agree on when the supply began. The City of Westerville says it has operated a public water supply since 1901, and the board's report for 1903 says "A public water supply was introduced in 1901." The board's report for 1913 instead gives 1903. The map is the independent record: the Sanborn sheet for December 1913 gives eight miles of four-inch to eight-inch mains, laid 1901-1902, and the October 1922 sheet repeats those years and adds 1920. The sequence, not any single year of it, is the honest account.

The sewers were built long before the bathrooms were

Westerville's first sewage works were, in the board's description, "a combination of the septic process followed by treatment with coke contact beds" and filters, designed for 75,000 gallons a day, of which the village built two-thirds to begin with. The site moved before the works were built: in June 1902, after nearby property owners objected, the board approved a change of location to a three-acre site just outside the village line, and approval of the new site went out on June 30, 1902.

A year later the state sent an inspector to the works, and his report in the board's annual report for 1903 is the clearest measurement of the Westerville bathroom from that decade. "There are twenty-one houses and one creamery connected with the sewers," he wrote. He put the population served at "probably about 100 people," his own estimate rather than a census count, in a village he estimated at about 1,500. The daily flow he recorded was 20,000 to 25,000 gallons.

The treated effluent ran into "a small tributary of Alum Creek." In 1906 the board reported that the Westerville sewage purification plant had not been used for some time and that untreated sewage was going into Alum Creek, and that this "would constitute a menace to the water supply of Columbus," which the board said sometimes drew water directly from the stream to supplement its own supply. That is the board's wording and nothing is added to it here. Where Columbus water comes from now, and where its sewage goes, are on the pages about the Columbus water supply and the Columbus sewers.

Three inspections in a row said much the same thing. The board's report for 1909 describes the Westerville works as "found in a neglected condition"; its report for 1910 says "the sewage purification plant was giving very poor results"; and its report for 1911 says the improvements it had "recommended to the authorities last year had not been carried out."

By December 1913 the board had set out what the system reached. The sewers served only the eastern and northern parts of Westerville, and the western part had no drainage at all. The board acted on December 3, 1913 and approved a settling tank as a temporary measure: "The proposed tank is of the Imhoff type," its approval reads, for a period "not to exceed three years," void unless installed before June 1, 1914.

Privy vaults within 500 feet of the town wells, in 1913

The same year, a state engineer inspected the town's water supply. His report, in the board's annual report for 1913, records that the supply wells stood on a tract of about two acres with "a number of dwellings with privy vaults within 500 feet of the wells." The board approved a deeper well for temporary use only, giving that approval on March 20, 1913 and making it void as of January 1, 1915. The same report states that the water was of "satisfactory sanitary quality" at the time. Those are the report's words, and the mains had by then been in the ground since 1901 and 1902.

The December 1913 fire insurance map describes the same works from outside the fence. It records a supply "by 5 driven wells; made to flow by air pressure," pumping into a reservoir of 20,000 gallons and feeding 37 double hydrants. The board counted four drilled wells in 1902 and again in 1913; the map counts five, so neither number is printed here as the number of wells in the town. The map carried a plan as well: Westerville was "To have new pump ho. with ample supply of water," at West Main Street and Alum Creek, where the city's water plant stands today.

From wells to Alum Creek, in the middle of the 1920s

The town's source changed once, and the two publishers that date it give two years. The Westerville Public Library, announcing a joint exhibit with the Westerville Division of Water and the Westerville History Museum, says 2024 "marks 100 years since the building of Westerville's Alum Creek water treatment plant," and dates that building to December 30, 1924. The City of Westerville's timeline says 1925. Neither can be preferred on the documents read here, so both are printed. The Sanborn sheet of October 1922 still records a supply of two wells, and the sheet of February 1933 records "Municipal ownership. Water supply from Alum Creek," with 11 miles of water pipe and 81 hydrants.

The City of Westerville says "Westerville was the first community in Ohio to fluoridate its drinking water," beginning in 1951. That is the city's own claim, made on its water FAQ page. No state or federal record confirming it was found for this page, which is why it appears here in the city's wording and attributed to the city.

The city says a new water plant able to treat three million gallons a day was built in 1969, expanded to six million gallons a day in 1980 and to seven and a half million in 1999, which is the capacity it gives for the plant today. The first plant did not come down: the city's timeline records that in 1982 "City officials convert the old water treatment plant to a Senior Center."

The City of Westerville says the plant takes most of "its source water for the Westerville Water Treatment Plant from Alum Creek" just north of Main Street, downstream of the Alum Creek Reservoir, and that it also uses underground wells. Ohio EPA says Alum Creek Lake "was built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1974" and names the City of Columbus and Del-Co Water Company, and not Westerville, as the utilities that share the lake as a water supply reservoir. The city says the Corps must release "waters downstream of the dam for the use of the City." So Westerville draws from the creek below the dam, not from the lake. Which system serves a given address is on the page about water and sewer providers in Central Ohio towns.

What the 1950 census counted in Westerville

No 1940 count of Westerville's plumbing is given here: the 1940 Census of Housing volume for Ohio publishes water supply, toilet and bathing equipment for the state, for large cities and for metropolitan districts, and not for Westerville village. The same census did publish Westerville's electric lighting separately, on the page about what wiring a house has by era. The earliest place-level count found is the 1950 census, whose tables for urban places of 2,500 to 10,000 do carry the town. The Census Bureau counted 3,146 people in Westerville in 1940 and 4,112 in 1950; the city's timeline gives 4,102 for 1950, and this page prints the Bureau's figure because neither document explains the difference of ten.

That census counted 1,194 dwelling units in Westerville village, and the table below is what it found in them. The universe is dwelling units rather than households or people, every column adds back to 1,194, and the three category names in quotation marks are the table's own wording.

What the 1950 census countedDwelling units in Westerville village
All dwelling units1,194
"Installed bathtub or shower, exclusive use"1,015
Installed bathtub or shower, shared90
No bathtub or shower76
Bathing facilities not reported13
Flush toilet inside structure, exclusive use1,042
Flush toilet inside structure, shared92
"Other toilet facilities (including privy)"50
No toilet2
Toilet facilities not reported8
"Hot and cold piped running water inside structure"1,105
Only cold piped running water inside structure44
Piped running water outside structure23
No piped running water16
Water supply not reported6

Those are counts of housing taken in one year, and they say nothing about anybody's health. A second table in the same volume, on condition and plumbing, counted 976 of those 1,194 dwelling units as not dilapidated "with priv. toilet and bath, and hot running water," and 32 as not dilapidated with no running water. That table's "no running water" and the other table's "no piped running water" are different definitions and cannot be added together.

The census also dated the housing. Of the 1,140 Westerville dwelling units that reported a year built, 710 were built in "1919 or earlier." Those rows carry the table's own asterisk, which its headnote defines as statistics based on a 20 percent sample rather than a complete count. What the same Bureau recorded about Ohio bathrooms decade by decade is on the page about how and when Ohio homes got indoor plumbing.

The town today, and the record that is still missing

Westerville became a city in 1961, on the city's own timeline, "with a population of 7,011." The year often confused with that one is 1916, when the village adopted a council-manager government, which the City of Westerville says made it the third municipality in the United States and the first village in Ohio to do so. The city reaches across the Franklin and Delaware county line and says it annexed 941 acres from Delaware County in 1995, though the December 1913 map already drew that line across the north edge of the village. It runs its own building department, which it describes as "a State of Ohio-certified building department that reviews and inspects all aspects" of residential and commercial construction in the community, a description that covers the City of Westerville alone.

On the waste side, the city says a federal grant in 1977 paid to upgrade its wastewater collection system, that two collector sewers were installed, that all known overflows were permanently blocked, and that none has been found since. The town that built its own disposal works in 1902 treats none of its own sewage now: the city says all wastewater generated in Westerville is treated by the City of Columbus or the Delaware County Sewage District. The year the town's own plant stopped treating sewage was not found in any document read here.

What a remodel in an older Westerville house meets today

A bathroom in an older Westerville house meets the rules of whichever building department covers that address, and this site's existing pages carry what does not vary by jurisdiction: the Ohio plumbing code page; the permit page, for which office reviews a bathroom remodel; the lead and asbestos page, for a house built before 1978; the supply pipes page, for what a wall is likely to hold by the decade it went up; and the floors and subfloors page. Nothing on this page changes any of that.

The short version. Westerville voted for a water works and for sewers on one day, August 19, 1901; the Ohio State Board of Health approved the sewer plans in January 1902 and the well supply that June; and the Sanborn map of December 1913 records eight miles of mains laid 1901-1902. A year after the sewers were built, the state's inspector counted twenty-one houses and one creamery connected to them. The source changed from wells to Alum Creek in the middle of the 1920s. In 1950 the census counted 1,194 dwelling units in the village, 76 of them with no bathtub or shower.

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.

Common questions

When did Westerville build its first water works?

The Ohio State Board of Health's annual report for 1902 records that on August 19, 1901 the electors of the village voted to issue bonds for a system of water works and for a system of sewers. The board approved the sewer plans in January 1902 and the well supply that June, after its own chemist reported that the test well water was much harder than is desirable in a public supply. The Sanborn Map Company's Westerville sheet for December 1913 records eight miles of four-inch to eight-inch mains, laid 1901-1902. The City of Westerville says it has operated a public water supply since 1901.

What did the fire insurance maps say about Westerville's water before 1901?

The Sanborn Map Company printed a summary of every town it mapped in the title block of sheet 1. For Westerville in June 1894 it reads, in four words, Water Facilities: Not Good. The same company printed it again in May 1900, that time without the colon. The 1894 sheet also records that the streets were not paved and that the grades were about level. The village voted to build a water works in August of the following year, and by the same company's sheet for December 1913 the title block records eight miles of mains and 37 double hydrants.

How many Westerville houses were connected to the sewer when it was new?

Twenty-one, on the state's own count. The Ohio State Board of Health sent an inspector to the Westerville disposal works about a year after they were built, and his report in the board's annual report for 1903 says there are twenty-one houses and one creamery connected with the sewers. He put the population served at probably about 100 people, which is his own estimate rather than a census count, in a village he estimated at about 1,500, and he recorded a daily flow of 20,000 to 25,000 gallons. The sewers had been approved in January 1902 as four and seven-tenths miles of pipe.

When did Westerville stop using well water and start using Alum Creek?

In the middle of the 1920s, and the two publishers that date it give two years. The Westerville Public Library, announcing an exhibit with the Westerville Division of Water and the Westerville History Museum, dates the building of the Alum Creek water treatment plant to December 30, 1924. The City of Westerville's own timeline says 1925. Neither can be preferred on the documents read for this page. The Sanborn maps bracket the change from outside: the sheet of October 1922 still records a supply of two wells, and the sheet of February 1933 records municipal ownership and a water supply from Alum Creek.

What did the 1950 census find in Westerville bathrooms?

The Census Bureau counted 1,194 dwelling units in Westerville village in 1950. Of those, 1,015 had an installed bathtub or shower for exclusive use, 90 shared one and 76 had none, with 13 not reported. For toilets it counted 1,042 with a flush toilet inside the structure for exclusive use, 92 sharing one, 50 with other toilet facilities including privy, and 2 with no toilet. For water it counted 1,105 dwelling units with hot and cold piped running water inside the structure, 44 with only cold, 23 with piped running water outside the structure and 16 with none.

How old was the housing in Westerville by 1950?

Old, on the Census Bureau's count. Of the 1,140 Westerville dwelling units that reported a year built to the 1950 census, 710 were built in 1919 or earlier. Those rows carry the table's own asterisk, which the headnote defines as statistics based on a 20 percent sample rather than a complete count. The same census counted 4,112 people in Westerville in 1950 and 3,146 in 1940. That is the housing stock a remodel in the older streets is most likely to open up, and it is a count of dwelling units in 1950 rather than a statement about any address today.

Does Westerville draw its drinking water from Alum Creek Lake?

Not from the lake itself. The City of Westerville says its plant takes most of its source water from Alum Creek just north of Main Street, that the plant is downstream of the Alum Creek Reservoir, and that it also uses underground wells. Ohio EPA says Alum Creek Lake was built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1974, and names the City of Columbus and Del-Co Water Company, and not Westerville, as the utilities that share the lake as a water supply reservoir. The City of Westerville adds that the Corps must release waters downstream of the dam for the use of the city.

Who reviews and inspects residential construction in Westerville, Ohio?

The City of Westerville runs its own building department, which it describes as a State of Ohio-certified building department that reviews and inspects all aspects of residential and commercial construction in the community. That statement is the city's own and it covers the City of Westerville alone. Whether a given address sits inside the city is a separate question: Westerville reaches across the Franklin and Delaware county line, and the city says it annexed 941 acres from Delaware County in 1995. The city's description says nothing about any other jurisdiction, and none should be read into it.

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