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From YouTube: All About Water - Part 1
Description
From 960 feet below the ground to 170 feet above it. 26 million gallons on the way. Blomington has more than 10,000 valves, 400 miles of pipes, 25,000 water meters all tested and clean of 60,000 contaminants. Follow every drop from the well to your faucet.
- Walk with Jon Eaton, Bloomington's Water Quality Supervisor as he explains where Bloomington tap water comes from.
- Follow water through the Sam Hobbs Water Treatment Plant.
B
A
Welcome
to
Bloomington
today,
I'm
Reed
Erickson
thanks
for
joining
us,
the
Bloomington
tap
connects
you
to
some
of
the
best
water
in
the
state.
It
keeps
us
safe
from
disease
because
it's
clean
hydrants
protect
us
from
fire
which
keeps
our
home
safe
and
insurance
rates
low.
It
supports
the
local
economy.
We
need
clean
water
for
business,
from
soda
fountain
to
washing
machine
Bloomington,
tap
water
delivers,
Bloomington
treatment
process
starts
in
the
Mount
Simon
or
Jordan
aquifers
aquifers
are
like
giant
underground
lakes.
A
B
A
It's
not
very
often
that
you
see
the
parts
of
a
municipal
well
out
of
the
ground,
and
that
is
exactly
what
these
white
pipes
are.
You
can
see
there
are
quite
a
few
of
them
here.
This
is
the
part
that
actually
goes
down
into
the
groundwater,
but
this
impeller
is
what
makes
it
work
inside
of
each
one
of
these
blue
bulbs
are
a
set
of
blades
that
actually
lift
the
water
from
the
ground.
A
They
are
connected
to
a
motor
on
the
top
via
a
stainless
steel
drive
shaft,
and
you
can
see
with
all
of
these
pipes.
We
can
reach
pretty
deep
earlier
today.
Crews
pulled
this
well
apart
to
be
refurbished.
It
takes
a
lot
of
effort
and
quite
the
toolset
to
pull
the
machinery
out
of
the
ground.
The
contractors
unscrew
each
piece
of
the
drive,
shaft
and
Kayson
the
assembly
is
so
heavy.
The
crane
does
the
lifting
each.
B
One
of
the
welds
are
constructed.
They
have
a
big,
they
start
out
with,
like
a
thirty
inch
hole
underground,
they'll
dig
it
down.
These
are
down
roughly
about
450
feet,
they
drive
some
casing
on
the
outside
down,
so
the
older
you
pay
them
and
then
they
develop
the
well
and
all
a
developing
really
means
is
they
create
cracks
and
fissures.
So
water
can
work
its
way
in
there.
The.
A
Water
plant
typically
cycles
through
the
wells,
but
during
hot
summer
days
it
may
have
all
of
them
cranking
to
keep
up
with
demand
the
wells
produce
77%
of
Bloomington's
water.
They
pull
it
out
of
the
ground
and
send
it
to
the
plant
for
treatment,
but
in
a
pipe
chase
on
the
north
side
of
town
is
a
36
inch
butterfly
valve
that
connects
the
city
to
the
other
23
percent.
That's
the
inlet
line
from
Minneapolis.
A
A
B
A
A
In
2009,
Bloomington
purchased,
1.3
billion
gallons
of
water
from
Minneapolis
in
the
event
of
an
emergency
water
plant
operators
can
switch
and
exclusively
sent
Bloomington
or
Minneapolis
water
into
the
system.
Bloomington
well,
water
heads
to
the
Sam
Hobbs
water
treatment
plant
and
though
it
looks
like
a
giant
indoor
swimming
pool.
There's
no
diving
there.
The
very
first
step.
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
This
is
exactly
what
the
filter
looks
like.
This
is
the
anthracite
coal
portion,
and
then
we
have
a
washed
sand,
and
then
we
have
a
very
fine
garnet
sand
and
the
important
change
like
I
said
like
a
coffee,
filter,
you're
looking
at
pore
size,
these
sized
pores
are
very,
very,
very
tiny.
These
are
a
little
bigger
and
these
are
much
bigger.
So
this
catches,
big
particles,
this
catches,
smaller
and
smaller
particles
after.
A
A
Check
this
out,
the
only
byproduct
of
the
water
treatment
process
is
the
lime
stirring
after
the
chemical
reaction
is
done
in
the
contact
solids
Basin,
the
lime
is
sent
here
where
it
binds
and
thickens
multiple
times
a
day.
The
city
tanker
hauls
the
used
lime
from
the
treatment
plant
to
the
city's
lagoons.
This.
B
B
Looks
just
like
pancake
batter,
but
it'll
dry
out
here
to
about
50%
solids.
It
makes
a
really
strong
cake.
It's
almost
like
wet
clay.
At
that
point,
then
we
hire
an
excavator
to
come
out.
You'll
dig
all
this
material
out
of
the
ponds
and
we
take
it
to
farm
fields,
its
agricultural
Lima.
At
this
point,
it's
high-grade
agricultural
lime.
Farmers
love
it
as
plants
grow.
They
take
up
a
lot
of
calcium
and
soil.
Soil
becomes
starved
of
calcium
and
your
renew
true
finding
the
soil,
so
the
farmers
can
get
maximum
yield
of
their
crops.