About Us

The Delaware County Sewer District was established on June 2, 1969, by the Board of County Commissioners under the authority of the Ohio Revised Code Section 6117. County Engineer Fred Stults assumed the duties of Sanitary Engineer.

In July, 1969, the County and City of Delaware jointly authorized a Feasibility Survey and Report for Sanitary Sewer Services and Sewage Treatment Facilities for the major portion of the Olentangy River Watershed within Delaware County. This report was submitted to the County and City in January 1970.

Three separate plans for providing wastewater facilities were developed and Plan “B” was adopted. Plan “B” consisted of separate treatment facilities for the City of Delaware constructed at the site of their existing treatment facilities and separate treatment facilities for the County near the Delaware-Franklin County line.

The County Commissioners filed an application for a grant to construct wastewater facilities with the Ohio Water Development Authority in July 1970. On October 14, 1970, the County was permitted by the Water Pollution Control Board.

In March 1971, preliminary layout and design data was submitted to the Ohio Department of Health. Approval of the General Plan was received in April 1971. After six months of additional consideration, the location of a wastewater treatment plant was proposed on the East side of State Route 315, immediately North of the Franklin County line, the current location of the Olentangy Environmental Control Center.

Detailed plans for the Olentangy Environmental Control Center were submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency and approval was received on November 8, 1973.

Initially, the OECC was designed for a treatment capacity of 1.5 million gallons per day. The facility was designed so that the treatment capacity could be expanded to 6 million gallons per day. An interceptor sewer was initially planned to extend from the OECC site to a point approximately one quarter mile North of Powell Rd.

The construction of the Alum Creek Dam in the mid 1970’s created concern for the Southern portion of the Alum Creek basin due to recreational facilities and stimulated growth patterns. The City of Columbus and City of Westerville also entered into an agreement with the State of Ohio to purchase 38 million gallons of water per day from the Lake.

Due to the planned use of the Alum Creek Reservoir as a water supply as well as the existing O’Shaughnessy Reservoir water supply, the initially planned service area of the OECC was expanded from the lower Olentangy River to include the lower Scioto River and lower Alum Creek in 1974.

Construction of the initial 1.5 million gallon per day OECC facility and interceptor sewers was completed in 1980. The wastewater flows were pumped to the OECC from a pump station located along Alum Creek where it intersects with Worthington Road.

From the mid 1980’s thru the early 1990’s the County experienced a tremendous amount of growth. By 1992, the OECC was operating at its 1.5 million gallon per day capacity and an expansion was planned. Due to the rapid growth in Delaware County, the OECC was expanded to its planned final capacity of 6 million gallons per day. Construction was completed and the new 6 mgd facility was placed in operation in 1996.

Further rapid growth in the County in the late 1990’s caused the OECC to reach its 6 mgd capacity by 1999. A study of the system showed that the majority of wastewater was coming from the Alum Creek basin. Plans were formulated to build a new treatment facility to serve the Alum Creek basin and use the existing OECC to serve the Olentangy basin. In 2002, the new 10 million gallon per day Alum Creek Water Reclamation Facility (ACWRF) was constructed.

2006 Average Daily Flows:

Facility           Current Flow            Design Flow
OECC                3 mgd                          6 mgd
ACWRF            4.5 mgd                      10 mgd

Delaware County also operates two “zero” discharge wastewater treatment facilities. “Zero” discharge means the effluent from the treatment facilities is not discharged into a stream but is used for other purposes, such as irrigation. The facilities serve Tartan Fields and Scioto Reserve. In each of these facilities, wastewater is treated in a similar manner to the treatment plants that discharge into a stream; however, instead of discharging into a stream, the effluent is placed into a large pond. Water from the pond is then used to irrigate a golf course.

In 2005, a County wide Sewer Master Plan was completed. A copy of that plan is provided on the website under Forms and Publications. Improvements outlined in the Master Plan are currently under way.