Water Quality

Committed to Quality

Rockwood Water is proud to provide its customers with high quality water and is committed to meeting or exceeding all state and federal drinking water standards.

If you have questions or concerns about your water quality, please call the District office at (503) 665-4179 or email customerservice@rwpud.org.

Your Water Source

Your water is usually water from the Bull Run Watershed, purchased from the City of Portland. At times, usually in the summer, we augment that supply with groundwater from the District’s wells.

The City of Portland also draws water from the Columbia Southshore Wellfield to augment the Bull Run supply during emergency situations or to meet high water demands during the summer months.

The City of Portland treats the water with chlorine for disinfection. Ammonia is added to the water to ensure that disinfection remains adequate throughout the distribution system.

Sodium hydroxide is also added to adjust the pH of the water to reduce corrosion of plumbing systems. The District adds chlorine and ammonia to the ground water prior to blending it with Bull Run Water to maintain consistent chlorine residuals.

Improved corrosion control facility now online

IMPROVED CORROSION CONTROL FACILITY NOW ONLINE The Portland Water Bureau has improved water treatment to help protect the health of nearly a million people who drink Bull Run water. The Portland Water Bureau brought Improved Corrosion Control Treatment online at the Lusted Hill Facility to further reduce potential levels of lead at customers’ taps. Click here to learn more Improved corrosion control facility now online | Portland.gov

As of Wednesday, June 22, Portland Water Bureau has increased the target pH level at the Lusted Hill Treatment Facility from 8.5 to 8.6.

Monitoring Your Water

Your drinking water is monitored for approximately 200 regulated and nonregulated contaminants to ensure that it complies with all applicable drinking water regulations. Samples are collected from the Bull Run watershed, Columbia Southshore Wellfield, District wells, distribution system and customer taps.

The table below shows a comparison of typical groundwater and Bull Run water quality. The actual water quality experienced by users during groundwater operations may differ from what is shown below based on changes in the wells used during the course of the operation, location of the customer within Rockwood’s distribution system, water demand, and other operational conditions.

City of Portland Water Quality Detail Table