The village of Addyston in western Hamilton County is preparing to change where its drinking water comes from, as the chemical plant that has long supplied the village prepares to close its wells. Village officials have a short-term plan to keep water flowing to about 900 residents, but paying for the system will require support from voters on Nov. 3.
Addyston currently gets all of its water from two wells located on the plant property along U.S. Route 50. When Ineos Styrolution said it would shutter operations there, with likely removal of the wells along with buildings, storage tanks and other infrastructure, the village turned to its neighbor, the village of Cleves. In September 2025, Addyston signed a two-year contract to buy water from Cleves.
Cleves Administrator Justin Habig said Cleves expects to bill Addyston’s 310 water customers about $150,000 a year, and that the arrangement is about helping a neighbor. Habig expects Cleves water to be turned on for Addyston by the first of the year, once crews finish installing a water main down U.S. 50. Ineos will keep operating the wells Addyston counts on until the village switches over to the Cleves supply, a company spokesperson said.
The connection work is being paid for with state help. Cleves received a $900,000 grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for the work, then $500,000 more from the state’s H2Ohio program to complete the job after the first connection point between the villages was not a good fit. Mayor Lisa Mear also said a $15,000 well abandonment grant from Ohio EPA will help the village shut down the wells on the Ineos site.
Under the contract, Cleves will handle billing and meter reading in Addyston, but Addyston will remain the owner of its water system and will stay responsible for maintenance and repairs. On Nov. 3, voters will be asked to continue a 1-mill property tax for improving, maintaining and operating the water supply system. If approved, property owners would pay $35 for each $100,000 of property value for five years.
According to Hamilton County Board of Elections Director Sherry Poland, Addyston is the only jurisdiction in the county that relies on ballot levies to support its water system. The village approved similar 1-mill, five-year water levies in 2001, 2011, 2016 and 2021. The November levy, if passed, would raise about $11,000 a year.
The water change comes as the village adjusts to losing its largest employer. Village finance records cited in March showed Addyston had been collecting about $400,000 a year in taxes from Ineos, close to a quarter of its $1.8 million in annual revenue, and the village has disbanded its small police department. CERTA Environmental, a Cincinnati company specializing in contaminated property, is buying the 120-acre plant site, but the village will not know what revenue the site may produce until it is cleaned up and new occupants are secured.