Have you ever wondered how safe drinking water gets

from the Rio Grande River to our home?

The Jefferson Water Treatment Plant pumps water from the Rio Grande River at an
estimated 45-60 million gallons per day depending on the time of year. As the
water enters the treatment plant from the Rio Grande River, it is injected with
chlorine for disinfection and two coagulants (aluminum sulfate and polymer) by the
rapid mix pumps.

Then it enters the flocculation chambers, where suspended particles in the water
clump with the coagulants to form a floc. At the end of the chambers, ammonia is
added to form chloramines, which extends the disinfection time.

The treated water then enters a sedimentation basin, or clarifier, where the floc
settles to the bottom of the clarifier. Floc that settles in the basin forms into slug
which is then pumped to the slug thickeners for more detention time.

Prior to the filter water entering the underground clear wells, it is injected with
chlorine, ammonia, and caustic for disinfection and pH control.

Water from the sludge thickeners is pumped through a belt press, where the water
is pressed out of the sludge and recycled back into the water treatment process.
The pressed and dry sludge is hauled to the landfill, and the treated water from the
clarifiers is pumped via submersible pumps into a holding basin, where it is gravityflowed into the filters. The granulated activated carbon filters remove organic
compounds and other suspended matter.

The water from the clear wells is pumped out to the storage tanks throughout the
city and into distribution system.