Minneapolis’s wastewater and water systems, built in the 1870s, are old and in need of repair.

•    Sewage Spills. The sewer system has dumped millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Mississippi River.

•    Aging Storm Water Tunnels. 15 miles of tunnels – some more than 100 years old – need $75 million in repairs to prevent failures that could collapse during heavy rains and damage overlying streets and buildings. It will take 10 years to fix everything.

•    Sewers Backups.  There were 21 residential sanitary sewer backups in 2006

•    Watershed Quality. EPA’s most recent assessment of the Lower Minnesota and Twin Cities watersheds found 245 individual impairments to water quality, including fecal coli-form bacteria, other pathogens and solid trash. 

The city is planning multimillion-dollar improvements to its water infra-structure over the next five years.

•    $73 million for the stormwater system, including projects to reduce combined sewer overflows

•    $31 million for the sewer system, including sewer cleaning and rehabilitation

•    $125 million for the water system, including ultrafiltration program and distribution system improvement

Minneapolis is one of the progressive cities in terms of separating its combined sewers,  and while it continues its massive water system refurbishment, the projects are already paying off.

•    No Sewage Overflows. In 2007, for the first time since the sewers were built, not a single wastewater overflow occurred and no untreated sewage polluted the Mississippi River. Nevertheless, spills are still possible and the city is continuing its efforts to prevent them.

•    Low Water Loss. Unaccounted for water has averaged 8.5 percent for the last 10 years

While water rates have moderately increased, Minneapolis tap water is still thousands of times less expensive than bottled water.

•    In 2007, 9.5 percent sewer rate hike, 1.9 percent water rate, 6.5 percent stormwater rate

•    In 2008, 6.5 percent sewer rate hike, 3.0 percent water rate, 5.0 percent stormwater rate

•    In 2009, 4.9 percent sewer rate hike, 2.5 percent water rate, 2.0 percent stormwater rate  

•    Bottled Water is expensive. For the price of a liter bottle of water, a person can get 2,850 liters of Minneapolis tap water.

•    Drinking Water. Minneapolis drinking water meets all federal requirements; in fact, the overwhelming majority of Minnesota’s 965 community water systems do.  

-    Minneapolis tests its water for more than 100 contaminants.

-    Its new filtration system removes more impurities than EPA requires.

-    Since 2001, the city has invested at least $140 million to make its drinking water safer.