Municipal Water System-How It Works

Water is first pumped from City wellhouses to a water treatment plant (above).

Wellhouses located at distances too far from City treatment plants contain equipment and necessary chemicals to treat the water prior to being pumped into the domestic water system. The Utility Division operates and maintains 24 groundwater wells which pump more than 3 billion gallons of water annually.

Water is then filtered, purified, tested and pumped to an adjacent water storage reservoir.

Coon Rapids has two water treatment plants (west and east) containing filtration facilities and reservoirs. The filtration plants remove iron and manganese and add chlorine and fluoride to provide quality water. This filtration process does not soften the water. Water hardness averages between 16 and 18 grains, which users can lower by using a private water-softening system.

From the reservoir, water is then pumped to one of three water towers and to your home or business. Water towers not only act as a large storage tank, but also serves to increase water pressure due to the combination of its height and the force of gravity. Over 31,000 customers are served by 290.7 miles of water main.

Download the Coon Rapids Water Quality Report.