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The City
of
Gatlinburg Water Treatment Plant
is located on the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River at the West
boundary of the City of
Gatlinburg
and adjacent to the
Great Smoky Mountains
National Park
. The watershed supplying
the Little Pigeon River to this point is entirely within the
Great Smoky Mountains
National Park
, the most visited national park in the
United States
. The water entering the
Water Plant is naturally very clean as there are no commercial buildings
upstream.
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The
original Water Treatment Plant was built in 1948 as a one million gallon
per day plant, which was upgraded in 1966 to two million gallons per
day. The secondary source
for Gatlinburg’s water system is the purchase of water from Pigeon
Forge at an average rate of 250,000 gallons per day with a peak single
day purchase of up to two million gallons.
The Gatlinburg Water Treatment Plant annually produces in excess
of 700 million gallons of water and purchases over 90 million gallons
per year from Pigeon Forge. Through
the hard work of its employees, the Gatlinburg Water Treatment Plant
operates at an annual efficiency rate of 96%.
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In the past
ten years the Water System has received a grade of 95 or better from the
Tennessee Department of Health and Environment and in the years 1995,
1997, and 2000, received perfect scores of 100, placing the Gatlinburg
Water System among the best water systems in the State of
Tennessee
. In 1997 the Gatlinburg
Water System was chosen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from
among over 1,000 water systems to receive a “Safe Drinking Water Act
Excellence Award.” The
Gatlinburg Water System currently has 23 water storage reservoirs with a
total storage capacity of 6,657,000 gallons.
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EPA
Preserving
Clean Water Is Everybody’s Business
Storm
Water and Urban Runoff are the result of precipitation from rain or snowmelt
that flows over the ground. As surface water flows, it can pick up debris,
chemicals, dirt, and other pollutants and deposit them into a storm sewer system
or water body.
The
Environmental Protection Agency provides simple guidelines for keeping storm
water and urban runoff near your home or workplace clean.
Only Rain Down The Drain!
For more information, visit
www.EPA.GOV
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