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Inside the Water Plant
About Our Water
The water source for the City of Coffeyville is surface water from the Verdigris River on North River Road. The river water first enters the system at the pumping station located on the east side of the River Road. There are three pumps available at the pump station, however, only one is used under normal operating conditions leaving two as backup. The pumps are used alternately and when not in use maintenance can be performed if needed without having to shut the system down. There are backup systems or two independent systems throughout the entire Water Treatment Plant, which insures that the plant will be able to continuously provide water.
At the pump station, the water receives its first treatment of chemicals before going to the presedimentation basin, the clarifier and the final sedimentation basin. Throughout its travels, the water receives various chemicals such as alum, activated carbon, anionic polymer, chlorine and ammonia. The water then flows indoors to the filter beds where it trickles down through a sand and anthracite coal media and exits the bottom. From there the water is stored in a 16-foot deep clearwell.
The picture shows the lab area at the Water Treatment Plant where much of the testing is done. If you look carefully at this picture, you can see water running from five spigots. The water in the flask to the right is water as it comes from the river. The left flask is water that is fully trusted.
Where the water is stored.
From the filter bed, the water goes into a 16 foot deep clearwell which holds 21,138.5 gallons per foot. The clearwell serves a dual purpose as it not only provides storage for the water, it allows contact time for the disinfectant to work. At the clearwell, there are three 250-HP pumps which move the treated water to the three underground reservoirs located south of the plant.
Reservoir 1 was built in 1895 and holds 3,000,000 gallons. Reservoir 2 was built in 1940 and holds 2,280,000 gallons, and Reservoir 3 was built in 1973 and holds 3,720,000 gallons.
The amount of pressure at the faucet is directly related to the elevation of the storage reservoir above that faucet, and Coffeyville is fortunate with the location of the Water Treatment Plant. The reservoirs are approximately 1,600 feet northwest of the river with the plant between the river and the reservoirs. The elevation of the river at the pumping station is about 700 feet while the elevation at the reservoirs is approximately 907 feet. The average elevation in Coffeyville is 730 feet, which makes elevating the water towers unnecessary while at the same maintaining an average water pressure of approximately 60 pounds per square inch (psi).
From the reservoirs, the water travels through some 180 miles of water lines to serve approximately 5,500 customers plus eight rural water districts, and the cities of Dearing and South Coffeyville.