You turn on the tap and flush a toilet multiple times each day, but do you ever wonder where your water comes from and how it is treated and tested to ensure safety?

North Plains water

The City of North Plains delivers safe, high-quality water to meet the health and fire protection needs of the City’s residents and businesses. The City purchases its water from the Joint Water Commission (JWC) which is the primary drinking water supplier in Washington County. The JWC is jointly owned by the Cities of Hillsboro, Forest Grove, and Beaverton and the Tualatin Valley Water District and treats, transmits, and stores potable water for about 450,000 customers. In 2005 the City built a 16” pipeline, spanning more than 3 miles, to deliver the water from Hillsboro. 

Water sources

All of North Plains water is surface water that comes from a river or reservoir and is treated at the JWC treatment plant south of Cornelius. During winter, all of the water comes from the upper Tualatin River. During summer, Tualatin River water is supplemented with water from the Barney Reservoir and Scoggins Reservoir (also known as Hagg Lake). Read more about the JWC water sources here. The City is also investigating backup well solutions within the City of North Plains boundaries.

Water quality

The JWC Water Treatment Plant is the largest conventional treatment plant in Oregon and produces drinking water of exceptionally high-quality. The drinking water continues to meet and exceed all minimum compliance standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Act. Read more about the multi-step treatment process here. 

Water within the City

North Plains delivers over 140 million gallons of water to 1,350 customers each year and conducts more than 50 tests within the City’s water system per year to ensure quality and safety. The Public Works Department operates and maintains the City's water system which consists of over 21 miles of water lines fed by the main pipe from the JWC in Hillsboro. The Public Works crew regularly inspects and services the original 1 million gallon reservoir and booster station on Commercial Street and the new 2 million gallon reservoir and pump station on West Union Road, along with 328 mainline valves and air relief valves in North Plains. In addition, the crew regularly inspects, paints and flushes 121 fire hydrants.

For more information visit our water webpage.