PIKETON, Ohio — Ohio environmental regulators have issued a new notice of violation to the Village of Piketon’s public water system after an inspection found a key filtration system was not operating as designed, including an inoperable component used during filter backwashing and media that inspectors said was no longer effectively removing iron and manganese.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said in a letter dated Dec. 16, 2025, that it conducted a Limited Scope Site Visit on Dec. 10 to review the village’s compliance with Ohio drinking water laws and rules. The agency said it identified a “significant deficiency” and ordered the system to respond in writing within 30 days detailing how and on what schedule it will address the problem.
According to the notice, inspectors found the village’s water filter was not operating as intended because the air scour system used in filter backwashes was inoperable. The Ohio EPA also said the filter media appeared degraded and was “inadequately” removing iron and manganese. Interior photos, the agency said, showed large sediment that should have been on the bottom of the filter media bed sitting on top — an indication the media bed was not functioning properly.
Health experts say iron and manganese in drinking water are often treated as “nuisance” contaminants because they can turn water rusty or black, create a metallic taste and odor, and stain sinks, toilets, and laundry — but they can also cause operational problems as they build up in pipes and fixtures and make water systems harder to manage. Experts add that manganese, at elevated levels over long periods, has been associated in some research with neurological and learning impacts in children, which is why water providers are expected to keep treatment equipment working properly and address persistent complaints.
To return to compliance, Ohio EPA said the village must repair or replace the air scour system and repair or replace the filter media so the filter operates as intended under design standards.
The agency warned that failing to correct the deficiency under a schedule accepted by the state would constitute a treatment technique violation, which would require the village to issue a Tier 2 public notice to water customers. The Ohio EPA also noted that continued noncompliance can result in administrative or civil penalties under state law.
The enforcement action comes as Piketon residents have voiced frustration throughout 2025 about water quality and service issues, while village officials have pointed to delays in a long-planned replacement treatment plant.
In a Dec. 6 Facebook post, Mayor Billy Spencer said the village had been awarded a loan of about $10 million to build a new water treatment plant and originally expected it to be completed by July 31, 2025. Spencer said construction was delayed after the contractor building the project went bankrupt, which he said added roughly six months to the timeline.
Spencer also described a dispute that held up electrical equipment for the project, saying the electrical contractor selected under the original primary contractor had equipment stored in a warehouse but would not release it amid a dispute involving the bonding company. Spencer said the issues were eventually resolved, but the project’s completion date was moved to April 30, 2026 — about nine months late.
As that timeline slipped, Spencer said the village was “trying to hang on” with its 73-year-old water plant and an “overworked” iron filter that required increasing maintenance and was losing its ability to remove iron from well water. He said the village’s water supply from the aquifer is “very hard with iron,” and noted that the community has previously relied on temporary portable iron filters when the large filter failed.
In another portion of the post, Spencer addressed residents who said they did not want to drink the water, writing: “If you guys don’t want to drink it don’t,” and adding that the situation “can’t be helped” in the short term as workers try to keep water running.
The Ohio EPA letter was addressed to Spencer and also copied the Pike County Health Department and the system’s operator of record, according to the notice.
Piketon’s drinking water concerns have also drawn attention beyond the village’s immediate infrastructure problems. In our reporting earlier this year, questions were raised about what contaminants are — and are not — routinely tested in Pike County drinking water systems, including radioactive isotopes.
The story released in February, focused on Technetium-99, a radioactive byproduct associated with nuclear activities that is not included in Ohio’s routine public water testing programs. An Ohio EPA press secretary said in an email that regulations do not require public water systems to monitor for Technetium-99 even though independent testing has revealed a startling amount of Technetium throughout the region.
Piketon sits near the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, a Cold War-era uranium enrichment site with a documented history of radioactive contamination. Advocates and some local officials have argued that the absence of routine Technetium-99 monitoring in public water systems creates potential blind spots, particularly in communities outside the boundaries of federal monitoring programs.
Ohio EPA’s notice of violation in Piketon, however, focused on treatment equipment performance — specifically filtration needed to remove iron and manganese — and set deadlines for the village to submit documentation and a corrective plan if the deficiency cannot be corrected within 30 days.