Happy National Drinking Water Week!
How lucky are we to have some of the cleanest, safest, best-tasting water in the world, right here in our community?
On May 8, 2017, we're joining the American Water Works Association and water professionals across the country in kicking off Drinking Water Week with the theme, "Your Water—To Know it is to Love it."
While this week marks the official observance of National Drinking Water Week, many of us in Eugene, and especially here at EWEB, celebrate our drinking water all year long!
This week, we're making a special point of appreciating the pure, tasty, and healthy water we have the privilege to enjoy right from our taps, anytime day or night. We're very fortunate that the McKenzie River has excellent water quality, and we do our best to keep it that way.
We're raising our water glasses also to our Water Operations staff who construct, operate and maintain our water treatment, transmission, storage, pumping, and distribution systems. And of course to our staff and partners who help protect and conserve one of the community's most valuable resources—clean drinking water. Thank you for all that you do!
In keeping with this year's theme, "Your Water—To Know it is to Love it" here are some interesting facts about Eugene's drinking water:
- Our drinking water begins a journey to your tap from the Cascade Mountains.
- We divert water from the McKenzie River at the Hayden Bridge Filtration Plant.
- Our 24 pump stations keep water moving to homes and businesses throughout our service area.
- Our water travels through more than 800 miles of transmission and distribution main lines.
- Our 28 reservoirs store water to ensure good water pressure and a steady supply.
- For decades, we have tested our water for lead. This testing shows that there is no lead in the water that enters the distribution piping. We also adjust the pH of the water to reduce corrosion in our pipe systems and to help prevent lead from leaching out of your old household plumbing fixtures. Learn more about how we prevent lead in our drinking water system.
- Our water meets or exceeds all state and federal drinking water health standards.
- We have never violated a maximum contaminant level or any other water quality standard established by the EPA.
- Over the past eight years, we've invested more than $30 million upgrading, expanding and renovating the Hayden Bridge Water Filtration Plant, and we're making other investments to prepare, replace and maintain our community's water system.
- Our drinking water source protection program offers several options to assist McKenzie landowners in protecting the water quality of the McKenzie River.
You can find more information about water quality and reliability investments in our annual Drinking Water Report, which is available for download on our website and also was highlighted in the Spring 2017 Pipeline.
