Community Profile

Location of Choice

Ephrata Borough is located in the northeastern section of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 38 miles south east of Harrisburg and about 57 miles west of Philadelphia.The Borough is the outgrowth of the famed religious community, the Ephrata Cloister, founded in the early 1700’s by the German mystic Conrad Beissel. Ephrata’s many historic buildings and the historic downtown add a special charm and character to the community and serve as an important reminder of the Borough’s history.

In addition to the historic beauty of the community, there is an abundance of recreation and public service facilities, a recreation center, two movie theaters, an historic playhouse, a community pool, parks and a linear park trail that provide a varied source of entertainment.

The Borough also provides both public and private school choices to provide quality education for future generations. Health care services are available at the Ephrata Community Hospital.

Ephrata Borough offers a wide variety of “traditional municipal services”, including a police department, code enforcement and public works. We also provide sanitary sewer and electric utilities and operate the water system of the Ephrata Area Joint Authority

The Borough operates two Wastewater (sewer) Treatment Plants that serve residents in five local municipalities. Plant number one can treat 3.8 million gallons of flow per day, while plant number two has a treatment capacity of 2.3 million gallons per day. The sewer collection system includes eight pumping stations located throughout the collection area.

The Borough of Ephrata Electric Division dates back to 1902. Today the Borough purchases most of its power supply through a portfolio of firm contracts of various sizes from a variety of wholesale supplies. The Borough’s electric system distributes power to approximately 6, 630 meters within the Borough limits. A new substation built in 1998 includes state of the art electronic equipment to assure system reliability.

Ephrata Borough is truly a “location of choice”.