EWEB marked a major milestone in March 2024 by completing construction of new drinking water storage tanks near East 40th Avenue. The tanks supply drinking water to everyone in Eugene and are built to withstand a major earthquake. Work is currently underway to replace EWEB's College Hill Reservoir with modern, seismically-resilient storage tanks identical to those constructed near East 40th.

We are working with community partners to develop an emergency water supply program that includes several permanent distribution sites located throughout the community using groundwater wells, as well as mobile water trailers. As of October 2024, six sites are operational.

We have developed a self-contained mobile distribution and treatment system that can deliver water in the event of an emergency.

The system consists of three mobile water distribution trailers and a mobile water treatment trailer, all with back-up power generation. The treatment trailer is equipped with filtration and disinfection systems and has a treatment capacity of one hundred gallons per minute while meeting EPA requirements for potable water.

For nearly 90 years, the community of Eugene has relied on the McKenzie River as our only source of drinking water. If something happened—there was a chemical spill, a toxic algae bloom, or other disaster—EWEB would be unable to count on the river to meet the city’s drinking water needs. With no other source to turn to, taps would run dry.

Since clean water is vital to public health, safety and the economy, planning is underway for EWEB's biggest modern investment in water reliability, a new water treatment plant on the Upper Willamette River. The plant is needed to give Eugene a second source of water should its sole source, the McKenzie River, or sole filtration plant, Hayden Bridge, become unavailable due to a natural or human caused disaster.

Eugene will continue to rely on the McKenzie River as our primary drinking water source as it has for many generations. The new Willamette Water Treatment Plant will supplement our primary supply and serve as a critical backup in the event of an emergency.

EWEB is preparing to construct two new water storage tanks and associated piping improvements near an existing water storage tank on North Shasta Loop. The project will enhance the reliability and seismic resiliency of drinking water service and is part of a multi-year plan to upgrade aging infrastructure.

The area around Spring Blvd is currently served from an existing 1.75-million-gallon steel tank built in the 1960s and a pump station, constructed in 2016, that runs 24 hours a day to provide water for fire suppression and domestic uses at the highest elevations.

The new bolted glass-fused-to-steel storage tanks will each be 60 feet in diameter and 29 feet tall and have a capacity of 0.5-million-gallon.

EWEB is constructing a new water pump station and pipeline on Highland Drive near the west side of Hendrick's Park. When complete, the new water main and pump station will meet modern seismic and fire codes.

Here are some basic facts about the project:

• The area around Hendrick’s Park is currently served from a pump station that runs 24 hours a day to provide water for fire suppression and domestic uses. The pump station is undersized for new development in the area. EWEB will leverage developer funds to construct new seismically hardened water infrastructure to benefit the entire area.
• The new pump station will be an 20’x20’ concrete masonry building sited within Hendrick’s Park.
• A new 12-inch pipeline will be constructed in Highland Dr. from the existing storage tank to the intersection of Woodland Dr.
• A new 8-inch pipeline and fire hydrant will be construction on Woodland Drive.
• A standby generator will be installed to allow the pump station to supply water during power outages.

If you have questions or want to learn more about the project, contact us at water.storage@eweb.org or 541-685-7899.

We have invested more than $35 million upgrading, expanding and renovating our Hayden Bridge Water Filtration Plant. Over the past ten years, we have completed a series of seismic upgrades to the plant, including reinforcing basin walls and filter buildings and disconnecting an old flume from the filtration building.

In 2019, we changed the way we disinfect drinking water, switching from chlorine gas to a liquid chlorine bleach that is manufactured on-site at our Hayden Bridge Filtration Plant. The new system, which uses coarse salt, water and electrolytic conversion to make sodium hypochlorite (bleach), allows us to store enough salt at the filtration plant to last three months.

Learn more about the water filtration process.