Water

Woodbury's water source for domestic consumption is the Jordan aquifer. An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing soil or rock that yields significant amounts of water to wells. Aquifers must be both permeable (allowing water to flow through) and porous (able to absorb) and typically include rock types of sandstone (Jordan aquifer), fractured limestone and sand and gravel. Woodbury currently operates 18 production wells and is in the process of constructing a 19th. Each well is about 400 to 500 feet deep. During construction, a cavity is blasted to create an open space in the rock at the bottom of the well. We then draw our drinking water from the water that seeps or moves through the rock to this cavity. Water in the Jordan aquifer has spent many decades flowing through soil and rock layers to reach our wells. During that period, organisms that might be harmful have died and have been filtered out by the soil and rock layers.

As water moves through the soil and rock, it dissolves some of the minerals. One of those minerals is calcium. Calcium is the major contributor to the hardness in Woodbury's water. Hardness is the measure of dissolved minerals that are in the water. The hardness of the water in Woodbury is approximately 13.5 grains. This is considered moderately hard.

Woodbury is fortunate to have a clean, safe, and good water source; however, the City of Woodbury does take additional steps to comply with the Minnesota Department of Health rules. The city regularly samples the water from its wells and provides an annual Water Quality Report to residents. Fluoride is added to the water to allow bodies to build stronger bones and teeth. Chlorine is also added to the water. Chlorine is a disinfectant and assures that no harmful bacteria or organisms can grow in the system and protects the water if any biological contaminants were to find their way into our water. The City of Woodbury operates very precise equipment to add these items to the water and tests the water daily to assure the right amounts of chlorine and fluoride are present throughout the water system. The state requires cities to have.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water and have a detectable chlorine residual at the farthest points in the system.

On average, the City of Woodbury wells produce about 7.7 million gallons of water a day. The amount of water produced varies greatly depending on the demand. In the winter, wells produce about 4.4 million gallons of water per day. In the summer, all 18 wells are needed to meet demand and can pump up to 37 million gallons per day. More than 4385 valves, 3500 fire hydrants and nearly 318 miles of water main are required to provide water for home, business and emergency use.

The Water Utility Division is funded through charges to Woodbury property owners connected to the City's potable water system. These funds are used for the maintenance, operation and management of the City's water supply, storage, and distribution system.