Do you know where your water comes from?
February 24, 2026
It’s easy to turn on the tap and not think twice about it. But your water has been on quite a journey before it reaches your home.
Eastside Utility District serves more than 26,000 residential customers across Bradley and Hamilton counties. When including our wholesale partners, the water we treat and deliver reaches close to 80,000 people across a 70 square mile service area.
So what happens between the river and your tap? Here’s how it works:
From River to Plant
Your water journey starts at the Tennessee River at the Chickamauga Reservoir. Raw water passes through chambers, grates, and screens to remove large debris before traveling about 1⅔ miles east to the raw water reservoir at the treatment plant, where the purifying process begins.
Cleaning and Preparing Your Water
Once at the plant, the water flows by gravity into flocculation chambers, where paddles slowly stir the water and a binding agent helps small particles clump together and settle to the bottom. The water then moves through sedimentation basins and tube settlers, where additional particles are removed.
From there, it passes through a carefully managed treatment process designed to refine it for everyday use. Clarification and filtration improve clarity, and the water is prepared to meet or exceed all drinking water requirements. This entire process typically takes 10 to 12 hours from start to finish before the finished water is stored and later delivered to your tap.
Water Quality Testing
Testing your water is a central part of keeping it clean and safe. Routine sampling and analysis take place throughout the treatment process and across the distribution system. More than 80 different parameters are monitored to ensure your drinking water meets state and federal standards.
To learn more, view our Water Quality Report
Distribution Throughout the Community
After treatment, the cleaned water is stored in clearwells before being distributed into the system. Across the district, elevated and ground storage tanks help maintain steady pressure and consistent supply, supporting homes, businesses, industries, and local farms throughout our community.
