Parkersburg Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Parkersburg, West Virginia, the Wood County seat — a major northwest West Virginia Ohio River city (Parkersburg is the Wood County seat and the second-largest city in West Virginia — an important Ohio River port and industrial city at the confluence of the Little Kanawha and Ohio Rivers; Parkersburg has a major chemical and plastics manufacturing heritage (the Dupont Washington Works plant — one of the most important industrial plants in West Virginia history — is adjacent to Parkersburg; the Washington Works plant became the center of a major environmental controversy involving PFAS (PFOA) contamination of the Ohio River and local water supplies)), home of the Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park (one of West Virginia's most notable historical sites — Harman Blennerhassett's island estate was a significant center of Aaron Burr's alleged conspiracy), a diverse Wood County community, and one of west Virginia's most historic river cities — draws its municipal water supply from the Ohio River via the Parkersburg Utility Board. Water hardness in Parkersburg measures 103.5 mg/L — classified as moderately hard.

Parkersburg's moderate hardness reflects the northwest West Virginia Ohio River watershed's calcareous-moderate Paleozoic geology. The Ohio River at Parkersburg–Wood County drains the Devonian Ohio Shale and Mississippian Greenbrier Limestone (calcareous-moderate). Parkersburg Utility Board treatment produces the moderate 103.5 mg/L.

At 103.5 mg/L, Parkersburg residents encounter moderate scale accumulation. Monthly cleaning is recommended. Parkersburg Utility Board consistently delivers water meeting all West Virginia DEP and EPA Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.