Metro water sources
Billy Steve Clayton
Minneapolis and St. Paul use the Mississippi River for their cities' water needs and sell water to some surrounding cities. St. Paul also uses water from regional watersheds, moving its supply through a system of lakes and aqueducts. Most of the other metro communities get their water from wells. Generally, well water needs less cleaning than surface water but surface water needs less mineral-removal. Only 23 Minnesota communities draw water from lakes, rivers or other surface sources.
40 filter units like the one shown below fill Minneapolis' new 1.5-acre water treatment facility in Columbia Heights.
The state-of-the-art system uses an ultrafiltration system that can remove disease-causing microorganisms such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium. The filters are cleaned regularly and can be repaired or replaced when necessary. The new plant's output is about the same as the old sand-filtration system it replaces -- up to 70 million gallons a day
