YOUR WATER HARD AT WORK FASTEST FLOW
Do you recognize this big tank? It holds almost 5 million gallons of water! We store water in tanks and reservoirs around our city to make sure we have enough water for emergencies and to keep the pressure in the water system.
Take a journey through Spokane’s Water System
Spokane’s aquifer has one of the fastest flow rates in the United States, flowing as much as 50 feet per day in some areas. In comparison, a typical aquifer has a flow rate between one-quarter inch and five feet per day.
Did you know that we get 100% of our water from the ground below us in an aquifer? We simply drill wells and pump the water up. Our water is so clean that we only need to add a small amount of chlorine to ensure its safety as it travels through our system.
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WATER STORAGE
Water moves through hundreds of miles of underground pipes to get to your home! It’s always ready for you when you turn on the faucet to brush your teeth, take a shower or need a drink.
Spokane River
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WATER USED AT HOME
PUMP STATION
WATER WISELY
Lawns only need watering every 3 to 5 days in the summer. Watering more than 1 inch per week means you’re just watering the ground below.
All the water you rinse down the drain and flush down your toilets collects in a different set of underground pipes called the sewer. This water travels to the wastewater treatment plant to get cleaned.
LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD
Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes to make the most of the washing cycle. Replacing your old washing machine with a high-efficiency model and use up to 50% less water and electricity.
This storm drain connects directly with the river — all of this stormwater spills out into the river without treatment. It’s super important to keep our drains clear from trash, car fluids, pet waste and other toxic things.
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STORM DRAIN
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CSO TANK
This place is super cool! It takes a lot of work to make dirty water clean again. Here, we collect everything from the sewer and send it through many levels of filtration until it’s clean enough to discharge into the river.
In some places in Spokane, storm drains connect to our sewer system and during a really heavy rain this stormwater might cause an overflow into the Spokane river. We built these giant underground tanks to hold the water and send it to the treatment plant when its ready.
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WASTEWATER
WASTEWATER TREATMENT
You’ve just made it through Spokane’s water cycle! The water that you once used has been cleaned and might make its way to the pacific ocean — pretty cool, huh?!