Welcome to the City of Arcadia Water Utility Department!
The City of Arcadia Water Utility provides an abundant supply of high quality water for Arcadia residents, businesses and industries. Arcadia's water supply is ground water from the Mt. Simon Aquifer, which produces excellent quality water in large volumes.
The Arcadia Water utility was rewarded for their high quality water when it received the Gold Medal Award for the best tasting water in the USA at the Great American Water Taste Test sponsored by the National Rural Water Association (NRWA) in February 2018 at the Rural Water Rally held in Washington DC. The Water Utility has won several other best tasting water contests over the years. See Water Utility Awards to learn more.
Currently, the City of Arcadia is served by_Web.jpg "Well 4 located in Memorial Park - Constructed in 1996")
four wells with a total pumping capacity of over 4,000 gallons per minute. The depth of the city's wells range from 386 to 400 feet deep into the Mt. Simon Aquifer. Water from these wells is pumped through the distribution system with the excess collected in two reservoirs that hold 1.5 million gallons of water.
In addition to the four wells, the Water Utility Department operates and maintains all the grounds, buildings and equipment of the water department to include 31 miles of water mains, 1295 water services, 234 fire hydrants and 545 water main valves.
In 2018, the Arcadia Water Utility pumped over 452 million gallons of water for the city's population of around 3000. Annually, the department pumps 5 to 6 times more water than a city of the same size as Arcadia.
History of the Water Utility
In 1855, the area we know as the City of Arcadia was established as "Old Arcadia." The original settlement was located in the area which is now the Highway 95 and Highway 93 intersection. Arcadia was incorporated on December 17, 1878. At that time, the population of the new village had reached 710 people. In 1891, the Arcadia Fire Company was organized. In the early years, the fire protection was furnished by a volunteer bucket company and a hand pump.
On December 17, 1901 a bond for $15,000 was approved to start a waterworks plant and to build a reservoir on Barnes Bluff. This was the beginning of the Arcadia Water Utility Department.
In 1903, big things were happening in the water department of the Village of Arcadia. First, water mains were covering the main streets of the village. Second, the first steam powered generator was installed at the village's first water pumping station (Well #1, which was abandoned in 1994 according to DNR regulations) which is the present day Arcadia Electric Utility office on Jackson St.
In 1925, Arcadia became a city and the city's population had reached 1,542.
In 1939, the City of Arcadia added Well #2 (permanently abandoned and torn down in 2004 according to DNR regulations) which was located at the corner of Highway 95 and West Main St. Well #2 had the capacity of pumping 400 gallons a minute. The Water Utility was pumping 58,254,000 of water annually by 1940.
In 1958, customer water demand continued to rise and the City authorized plans to construct a third well (Well #3) on Wilson Ave. The well went into service in the fall of 1959. Well #3 had the capability to pump 650 gallons of water a minute. An iron removal plant was added to the well in 1967. This well was permanently abandoned and torn down in 2019. (According to DNR regulations.)
A new one million gallon reservoir was added to the east side of the city in 1973.
_Web.jpg "Well 6 located on Cty Rd A - Constructed in 2008")
The Water Utility constructed a fourth well (Well #4) in Memorial Park in 1996. Well #4 is dedicated in honor of long term Water and Wastewater Superintendent, David Krett. This well had the capacity of pumping 650 gallons of water a minute and is one of the four wells supplying Arcadia residents and businesses with water today.
By the end of 2003, 371,000,000 gallons of water were being pumped to the City of Arcadia residents and businesses.
In 2004, a fifth (Well #5) well and filtration plant was built and is located on Homestead Ave. This well has the capacity of producing 1,100 gallons of water a minute. Well #5 is dedicated to Gerald Myers for his 30 years of service to the City's Utility Commission and City Council.
A sixth well and filtration plant (Well #6) was added in 2008 on County Rd A. This well also has the capacity of producing 1,100 gallons of water a minute. This facility is dedicated to another Water and Wastewater Superintendent, James Lisowski.
In April 2014, a supervisory, control and data acquisition system (SCADA) was installed by Altronex Control Systems (a division of L.W. Allen) of Madison, WI to monitor our water filtration plants (wells) and reservoirs along with our wastewater treatment facilities. This system provides real time automatic control of critical functions and collects operational data at the facilities 24/7. It also controls the alarm system which alerts operators of any equipment malfunction.
In 2018, the construction of our seventh well and filtration plant (Well #7)began on Clydesdale Ave. This is our newest well and was put into operation the fall of 2019. It has the capacity of producing 1200 gallons of water a minute.