Where does water come from?
This overview explains the basic parts of a water system:
- Water is taken from its source, which may be a reservoir (1a), river, or well (1b). Water is pumped or flows by gravity to the treatment plant.
- At the treatment plant, impurities in the water are removed or inactivated and depending on the plant, fluoride may be added.
- Clean drinking water is stored in an elevated tank.
- Distribution mains carry water from the treatment plant or tank to service lines. Mains also provide water to hydrants for fire protection.
- Service lines connect distribution mains to building and plumbing systems.
- Used water from sanitary sewers is piped to the sewage treatment plant.
- At the sewage treatment plant, used water goes through a multiple step cleansing process.
- Cleaned water is returned to the river where it re-enters the water cycle or is additionally cleaned and reused for irrigation purposes, such as golf course watering.