
For water quality questions or to request a printed copy of this report, please call 541-685-7861 or send us an email.
As an EWEB customer, you receive some of the highest quality drinking water in the world. Your water comes from the pristine McKenzie River, which emerges from Clear Lake, high in the Cascade Mountaints. Clear Lake is a spring-fed lake, the water bubbling to the surface through acres of natural volcanic "filters," before flowing 85 miles down the McKenzie River to the Hayden Bridge Water Filtration Plant in Springfield, where the Eugene Water & Electric Board draws water from the river.
EWEB has completed a Source Water Assessment to identify potential contaminants of concern for our drinking water. Although the McKenize River has faced some major challenges in 2020 and 2021, overall water quality remains excellent (read the 2021 State of the McKenzie Watershed Annual Report). EWEB works with residents throughout the watershed to minimize contaminants from pesticides and urban runoff; and coordinates with multiple emergency responders to contain hazardous materials spills. With climate change bringing warmer and drier weather, our watershed will endure threats in the forms of droughts, wildfires and harmful algal blooms.
We are fully committed to ensuring safe and healthy drinking water, that meets or exceeds all state and federal standards, is provided to our community. We regularly test water samples from our Water Distribution System. Our technicians as well as independent laboratories collect and test more than 85,000 samples from source to tap each year.
Learn more...A "boil-water advisory" is a precautionary notice issued when a community's drinking water is or could be contaminated by disease-causing organisms. It is a preventative measure that is intended to protect the health of water consumers when there is an actual or significant possibility that contamination may be present within the drinking water system.
Learn more...The sources of drinking water (bot tap and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs and wells. As water travels it dissolves naturally-occuring minerals, and in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity. In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the EPA prescribes regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems.
Learn more...The clean, reliable drinking water we all need is not possible without the infrastructure that delivers it. Over the past 15 years, EWEB has invested more then $37 million to updgrade and expand the Hayden Bridge Filtration Plant. We are not prioritizing strengthening base level storage and in-town transmission infrastructure throughout our service territory.
Learn more...Lead in the environment
There are many sources of lead in the environment, including dust, soil, air, food and water as well as residues from the discontinued use of leaded paint and leaded gasoline. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides simple steps that you can take to lower your chances of exposure to lead.
Lead in drinking water
Public health is our highest priority. We care about the health of the families that drink our water and we want to help limit your exposure to lead in drinking water. The main source of lead in water in the Eugene area is old household plumbing. Lead solder was commonly used in homes built or plumbed with copper pipes before 1986. Lead also can be found in brass faucets and fixtures installed prior to 2014.
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