EWEB Water Rated “Outstanding”
Eugene’s drinking water received an "Outstanding” performance rating from the Oregon Health Authority. To qualify for this rating, OHA conducted a comprehensive on-site review of EWEB’s drinking water source, treatment and storage facilities, distribution system, operation and maintenance procedures, and monitoring program to evaluate our system's capability of providing safe water to the people of Eugene.
To be recognized as an Outstanding Performer, a water system must not have any contamination violations in the last five years and no more than one monitoring or reporting violation in the past three years. EWEB had none. A water system also must have no significant deficiencies or rule violations during the current water system survey and no waterborne disease outbreak to the water system in the last five years.
Most public water systems are reviewed by the OHA every three years, but EWEB’s next review won’t occur until 2026 thanks to our high performance. But don’t worry—we'll continue our “outstanding” work to deliver drinking water that exceeds all federal and state standards.
“We’re proud of our drinking water here in Eugene,” said acting water operations manager Ray Leipold. “This designation is not easy to obtain, and it represents the high value that EWEB staff and our customers-owners place on safe, clean water.”
What is the value of water?
EWEB is responsible for ensuring that our entire community has access to the clean and reliable drinking water that is essential for public health and safety, fire protection and economic vitality. These needs are more crucial than ever, as we continue to experience challenges stemming from climate change and aging infrastructure.
With an average monthly water bill of $38 for a single-family residence, EWEB customers pay some of the lowest water rates in the northwest. For every dollar of your EWEB bill, about 12 cents goes to water treatment, delivery and infrastructure investments.
Investing in drinking water
The safe, reliable drinking water we all rely on is not possible without the infrastructure that delivers it, including our source, the McKenzie River watershed.
EWEB has invested more than $35 million upgrading and expanding our Hayden Bridge Water Filtration Plant over the past decade. We are replacing water mains, improving pump stations, and planning for a new, seismically resilient filtration plant on the Willamette River, which will provide redundancy in case a disruption like an earthquake or toxic spill impacts the McKenzie River or Hayden Bridge Filtration Plant.
In July of 2021, we also began collecting a Watershed Recovery Fee of $3 per customer (with a 1” or smaller water meter) to augment the state and federal funding we’ve secured to restore the McKenzie River after the Holiday Farm Fire.
In the next decade, we will construct new water storage facilities near 40th Ave. and replace the water storage systems at our College Hill and Hawkins Hill sites. The projects will be built to seismic and contemporary operating standards, providing more 45 million gallons of resilient, safe water storage.
Learn more about your water quality
Each year, EWEB presents a Consumer Confidence Report, also known as our Drinking Water Quality Report. This document combines required annual notices about contaminants with important facts about the source and quality of your drinking water. We will release the 2021 report in May 2022. In the 2020 report, you'll find information about:
- Impacts of the Holiday Farm Fire in the McKenzie Watershed
- How lead could get into your household drinking water
- Troubleshooting taste and odor problems
- Preparing for water emergencies
Read the 2020 Drinking Water Quality report online or request a printed copy by contacting us at 541-685-7861 or water.quality@eweb.org.
