Pickerington Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Pickerington, Ohio, in Fairfield County — a Fairfield County city in the southeast Columbus suburban corridor adjacent to Reynoldsburg and Canal Winchester, a rapidly growing Columbus exurban community — receives its municipal water from the City of Pickerington Water Department or through purchase from the Columbus Division of Water, drawing from the Scioto River or Big Walnut Creek system in the southeast Columbus water service area.

The moderately hard 170.5 mg/L hardness and TDS of 346.4 mg/L reflect the Scioto River watershed's Ohio carbonate platform geology. The Scioto River drains central Ohio's Till Plain — glaciated terrain underlain by the Silurian Lockport Dolomite (the dominant carbonate of western Ohio), the Devonian Columbus Limestone, and Pennsylvanian calcareous shale. These Silurian-Devonian carbonate rocks produce consistently moderately hard water throughout the Columbus metropolitan area in both the Scioto and Big Walnut Creek corridors.

At 170.5 mg/L, Pickerington's water is moderately hard — scale builds in kettles and appliances over months, dishwashers benefit from rinse aid, and bathroom fixtures develop calcium deposits. Quarterly descaling is appropriate. The PFAS level of 6.7 ppt warrants a certified drinking water filter — Rickenbacker ANG (Columbus — a major Air Force Reserve AFFF user in the southern Columbus Scioto watershed), the Columbus chemical manufacturing corridor, and the central Ohio PFAS legacy contribute to Pickerington's PFAS readings.