City of Anacortes

Your municipal water originates from the Skagit River, the largest river system flowing into Puget Sound. This impressive watershed spans approximately 3,100 square miles (1.98 million acres) and stretches 162 miles from the snow-capped Cascade peaks, including Glacier Peak and Mount Baker.

The river flows through protected parklands, forests, hydroelectric facilities, agricultural zones, and numerous communities before emptying into Skagit Bay. Recent watershed assessments have identified two main threats to water quality: (1) potential pollutant discharge from accidents or treatment facility malfunctions, and (2) contaminated surface runoff during high-flow events or flooding.

The Washington State Department of Health has assigned the Skagit River a "high" susceptibility rating, which is typical for open water sources like rivers and lakes. For a complete list of potential contaminants, please visit www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/dw.

What's in Source Water?

Municipal water sources (both tap and bottled) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels across land or through soil, it dissolves naturally-occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive materials, and may pick up substances from animal or human activities.

Potential Source Water Contaminants Include:

• Microbial Contaminants: Including viruses and bacteria from sewage treatment facilities, septic systems, agricultural operations, and wildlife.
• Inorganic Contaminants: Including salts and metals that occur naturally or result from urban runoff, industrial discharges, oil/gas production, mining, or farming.
• Pesticides and Herbicides: From various sources including agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential usage.
• Organic Chemical Contaminants: Including synthetic and volatile organics from industrial processes, petroleum production, gas stations, urban runoff, and septic systems.
• Radioactive Contaminants: Can occur naturally or result from oil/gas production and mining activities.

Our Water Treatment Process

The City of Anacortes owns and operates a regional water treatment facility (system ID #02200C) on the eastern bank of the Skagit River near Mount Vernon. In 2013, the city replaced its aging plant with a modern facility featuring ballasted sedimentation pretreatment, eight new filters, an above-ground clearwell, and a new high-service pumping station.

The plant can process 42 million gallons daily (expandable to 55 million) and serves approximately 56,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Treatment involves multiple barriers including intake screens, disinfection to neutralize harmful organisms, and processes to form larger particles that settle and filter easily.

Operations are continuously monitored by certified operators staffing the facility 24/7. Samples from each treatment stage undergo strict daily testing in the plant's laboratory, with additional verification by independent laboratories.

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