CITY DEPARTMENTS
Water Department

• 2007 Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) on
  Water Quality for the City of Jefferson, Iowa (PDF)
• Water Conservation
• Laboratory Testing
• Water Meter Division
• List of Local Licensed Plumbers
• Water Ordinances

Welcome to the Jefferson Water Department. This is to inform you of our water policies to help you as you settle into Jefferson.

A $100.00 water deposit is required from all residents. This deposit will be returned after twelve (12) consecutive months without a late payment.

Water and sewer charges are billed monthly. We read 99% of the water meters in Jefferson near the end of every month with our radio-read truck unit. Some larger meters are still read manually. On your monthly water bill, you will see the current month’s reading and the previous month’s reading. The difference of the readings is your consumption.

The net amount is due on or before the 15th day of the month. Payments may be made at City Hall Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.. An after-hours deposit slot is located to the left of the front door of City Hall and a drive-up drop box is also located in the alley just south of City Hall. These two services are available anytime, day or night, weekend or holiday. For a convenient payment option, direct bank pay is available. Click here for the application form (PDF).

Written and verbal notification must be made to discontinue water service. A customer may schedule a time for staff to read the water meter for the final billing by calling City Hall (515-386-3111). The reading may be taken from the outside with the radio-read equipment. However, if a customer requests the meter be removed to stop additional water charges, staff must access the meter on the inside of the residence.

If a consumer plans to go on a winter vacation or plans be gone for an extended period, please notify City Hall so staff can make arrangements for the removal of the water meter.

In the event a bill is not paid by the 15th of the month a 10% penalty is applied. A disconnection notice will be sent by regular mail as a reminder for payment. If the bill is not paid by the end of the month, a Water Service Termination Notice (red tag) will be placed on the door allowing 24 hours before disconnection occurs. A trip charge of $20.00 will be charged if the red tag is delivered to the residence. The red tag will show the amount past due. To restore service, the total amount past due plus an $85.00 reconnection fee must be PAID IN FULL. Reconnections will only be completed between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3:45 p.m., Monday through Friday. An adult must be present at the residence before service will be restored.

Some Interesting Facts

The Jefferson Water Treatment Plant provides water to more than 2000 homes and businesses in Jefferson. In addition, water service is provided to the schools, hospital and industrial factories.

The water distribution system consists of more than 42 miles of water mains ranging in size from 4" to 16". The mains are mostly cast iron and ductile iron with some PVC. More than 240 hydrants are available for fire protection.

Water Treatment Plant Process

The Water Treatment Plant is located at 1000 N. Cedar Street in Jefferson. The plant was constructed in 1996-97. The plant can be operated automatically. Through a computerized control system, we can both monitor and change settings at any point throughout the treatment process. The water goes from the raw water pumped from six wells to the finished water provided to the public.

1. Water is pumped from a combination of six wells to the water plant location.
2. The raw water flows through the induced draft aerators, which mixes air with the water to help precipitate iron out of the water. Pre-chlorination is performed at this stage.
3. The raw water enters the detention tanks where it slowly moves through baffles before it enters the filters. This detention time allows the iron, manganese and solids to settle out.
4. The raw water enters the declining rate sand filters where it passes through approx. 30 inches of sand which filters the iron and manganese out as it settles on top of the sand. The filters are set to backwash on timed cycles. The backwash process is where water and air are mixed together and then pushed through the filter backwards which agitates the sand filter beds causing the iron and manganese to break loose from the sand particles. The dirty water containing iron and manganese is directed through troughs and a waste valve where it is pumped to a large tank called the filter backwash tank. The backwash water sets for several hours which cause the iron and manganese to settle to the bottom of the tank. After the settling time, a timer turns on a floating decant pump which pumps approx. 60% of the clear backwash water back to the detention tanks to be recycled. Then a 3-way valve directs to pump the rest of the dirty backwash water to the waste tank where it is later pumped to the wastewater treatment plant.
5. The filtered water comes out of the bottom of the filters and is collected in a gullet where it is chlorinated again and then passes through to a 250,000 gallon ground storage tank located outside of the plant and then to two clear wells inside the plant.
6. The filtered water is then pumped from the two clear wells by one of three high-service pumps which normally are distributed to the softeners.
7. Approx. 80% of the filtered water passes through 4 ion-exchange softeners where it passes through a zeolite media that attracts the calcium and magnesium, which are two of the prime components that cause hard water. The other 20% of the filtered water bypasses the softeners so we can blend the water to approx. 5 to 6 grains of hardness to the public. This is done for two reasons: first because totally soft water has a corrosive effect on the distribution pipes, and secondly to cut down on the amount of salt needed to regenerate the softeners, since the salt is the most costly component of the water process.
   The softeners operate similarly to the filters as they can only soften so much water before the zeolite can hold no more calcium and magnesium. The softeners are also on a timed cycle and go through a backwash cycle after softening approx. 190,000 gallons of water. During the backwash process, the water passes through the softeners in a backward fashion which rinses the zeolite media bed. A brine solution is pumped through the softeners, which causes the polarity of the zeolite to reverse thereby releasing the calcium and magnesium from the millions of tiny zeolite balls. Then the softener goes through a slow rinse and a fast rinse to rinse the remaining calcium, magnesium and salt from the softeners. They are then ready to be placed back into service. This entire process is automated.
8. Once the 80 % softened and 20 % filtered (non-softened) water is blended together, it goes through the final stage of adding chemicals before it is pumped to the water tower and into the distribution system.
9. The final stage is comprised of adding chlorine, fluoride and polyphosphate. The final chlorination is done to kill any remaining bacteria that may possibly still exist and to help boost the disinfection ability in the distribution system and in the 1,000,000 gallon elevated tower. The addition of fluorosilicic acid is supposed to help prevent dental decay and the addition of polyphosphate is to provide a microscopic protective film to coat the interior of the distribution system piping to reduce red water from iron precipitation and to help reduce corrosion in the piping.
   

Check the FAQ for more information.