Ottawa County
Sanitary Engineering Department
315 Madison Street, Room 105
Port Clinton, Ohio 43452
General Information: (419) 734-6725
Billing Inquiries: (419) 734-6728
(419) 734-6858 Fax

Sanitary Engineer:  James K. Frey, P.E., P.S.

The Primary Mission of the Ottawa County Sanitary Engineering Department is to provide safe and reliable water and wastewater services to Ottawa County residents at a reasonable cost.

Under the authority of the Ohio Revised Code (Chapters 6103 and 6117), the Board of Ottawa County Commissioners created the Ottawa County Sanitary Engineering Department for the purpose of preserving and promoting public health and welfare throughout the County. 

The Sanitary Engineer is responsible for the enforcement of all rules and regulations established by the Board of County Commissioners for the construction, operation, maintenance, protection and use of public water supply and wastewater infrastructure throughout Ottawa County. 

The Ottawa County Sanitary Engineering Department staff of 35 full time employees is responsible for the operation of a nine million gallon per day Regional Water Treatment Plant, three 500,000 gallon elevated water storage towers and over 182 miles of water transmission and distribution mains serving the City of Port Clinton, the Village of Oak Harbor and portions of seven different townships including Danbury, Catawba Island, Portage, Erie, Bay, Salem and Harris. 

The Ottawa County Sanitary Engineering Department also operates two wastewater treatment systems including the 1.34 million gallon per day Portage-Catawba Island Township Wastewater Treatment System, the 3.8 million gallon per day Danbury Township Wastewater Treatment System, seven Chemical Injection Feed Stations, 83 Pump Stations, 1000+ Environment One Grinder Pump Stations and over 167 miles of sanitary sewers serving the three Eastern most Townships of the County.

The Ottawa County Sanitary Engineering Department is also responsible for the development and administration of numerous intergovernmental agreements between the Board of Ottawa County Commissioners and several other local government partners within the County to jointly serve the public water supply and wastewater needs of other areas of the County.

The fundamental objectives of the Ottawa County Sanitary Engineering Department are to meet the public water supply and wastewater needs of our customers and community; protect the surface waters of Lake Erie and Sandusky Bay; treat and disinfect water properly for consumption; deliver water to our customers in an efficient manner; collect, treat and discharge wastewater properly; maintain an equitable water and sanitary sewer billing system for our customers; plan for growth and have available the necessary facilities when needed.  The bottom line is to make sure that all of our decisions are made in the best interest of the general public.

The Ottawa County Sanitary Engineering Department is a self-supporting enterprise operation that solely exists to serve the public water supply and wastewater needs of the County.  Revenues for each of the various County operations are generated from the services provided and are specifically utilized, maintained and accounted for separately in special enterprise fund accounts that have been established by the Board of County Commissioners for the sole purpose of maintaining operations under the authority and jurisdiction of the Ohio Revised Code.