Madison Water Utility
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Celebrating Women In Construction Week Posted 03/11/2021
It’s Women in Construction week! We’d like to thank all of women at Madison Water Utility who are integral to our mission and day-to-day operations. We also took a moment to talk to a few women breaking barriers in both the water and construction industries. Read more » -
EVERY DROP MADISON poll closes soon! Posted 09/25/2019
Click here to take the poll --- We’ve had a great response to the EVERY DROP MADISON poll so far, but there are still a few days left to give your input on the next phase of water conservation and sustainability in Madison. Read more » -
Flushing program puts Madison "on the forefront" Posted 04/05/2019
(Water main flushing in Madison starts in April of each year . Find out when crews will be working in your neighborhood on Madison Water Utility's water main flushing page.) Read more » -
Madison Water Utility adds first new well in more than a decade Posted 09/10/2018
Inside Madison's newest municipal well on Tradewinds Parkway --- Madison’s water system was supposed to look a lot different by now. According to Madison Water Utility’s 2006 Master Plan, the utility would add as many as seven new municipal water wells before 2020, bringing additional supply to every part of the city. Read more » -
High school students get hands-on training at MWU Posted 08/17/2018
Most 17 year-olds probably don’t think much about water meters. “Honestly, I’d never seen a water meter before,” admits 17 year-old Erika Hosokawa. Or about hose bib vacuum breakers. “I didn’t think of them at all,” laughs Raymond Weinert. “This was not in my mind.” Or pretty much anything having to do with a water utility. Read more » -
Widely used chemicals detected in two Madison wells Posted 07/27/2018
Questions about your water quality? Call our water quality department: (608) 266-4654 (Photo: Sample bottles for perfluorinated compounds testing) --- Read more » -
What’s under Monroe Street? Posted 04/16/2018
Major project uncovers century-old water main. --- --- Read more » -
Two Madison Water Utility projects getting national attention Posted 03/20/2018
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Water use in Madison drops to lowest level in 50 years Posted 01/19/2018
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Worst winter ever? Lessons learned from the "polar vortex" winter of 2013-14 Posted 12/29/2017
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Catching catastrophic plumbing problems -- through email Posted 12/18/2017
----- The last thing you want to hear during a vacation is bad news from home. But that’s exactly what Carol Philipps got during a recent trip to San Francisco – and it came from Madison Water Utility. “I got an alert after a couple of days that we had used a tremendously high amount of water. And I thought, ‘Oh, this is ridiculous. This must just be a mistake.’” It wasn’t. Read more » -
Imagine a Day Without Water Posted 10/05/2017
Madison uses 27 million gallons of water a day. Can you imagine one day without it? Read more » -
A funny song about a serious thing Posted 08/08/2017
Old tune resurfaces after sitting for years on a shelf at Madison Water Utility Read more » -
Bidding farewell to Madison’s “legacy” main Posted 05/22/2017
The city’s oldest infrastructure is being replaced, one project at a time. --- (Photo: First Madison Water Works Superintendent John Heim, left, oversees water main installation, cir. 1900) Read more » -
Partnership with Project Home making an impact Posted 03/23/2017
It’s not every day that someone gets excited about a toilet. “It looks so nice. It really does!” But for 72 year-old Gloria LeMay, the new toilet is just part of a whole two days of excitement. Local non-profit Project Home is replacing her toilet, fixing a tub faucet leak, installing new windows and repairing a broken ceiling fan in her condo. Read more » -
What does your water dollar pay for? Posted 02/20/2017
The average Madison homeowner uses 3,871 gallons of water a month and pays $19.09 in water charges. Ever wonder where that money goes? Here's a three-minute look at what your water dollar pays for... Read more » -
Saving Madison from salt Posted 12/02/2016
New WI Salt Wise campaign looks to educate the community about road salt as concerns grow over water contamination --- Read more » -
Madisonians cite safety and conservation as top water issues Posted 10/05/2016
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Why add chlorine? The story behind water disinfection Posted 08/02/2016
"...one kid every 8 seconds is dying because a simple thing like chlorination of drinking water is not there." -Dr. Marty Kanarek, UW Madison ---- Read more » -
Water main flushing puts Madison "on the forefront" Posted 04/04/2016
--- It’s a tall order. Every spring, Madison Water Utility crews set out to clear mineral sediment from some 800 miles of water main. They spend months moving from neighborhood to neighborhood, opening up more than 2,500 fire hydrants to flush iron and manganese out of the city’s water pipes. Read more » -
How low can we go? Posted 03/10/2016
Madison's annual water use hits a 47-year low, but utility officials push for more. (Photo: Pump test for Well 31 on Madison's southeast side. It will be the city's first new well in more than a decade.) --- Read more » -
Why all the main breaks? Posted 02/23/2016
Repair crews deal with a string of main breaks across Madison It's 5:00 a.m. on an usually warm February morning, and the call comes in – a six-inch wide water main has ruptured beneath busy Regent Street just off the UW Madison campus. The break is one of 11 in Madison in four days, and utility officials say the sudden warm-up is largely to blame. Read more » -
World War II-era journals discovered at construction site Posted 11/17/2015
--- They’re not exactly what Madison Water Utility supervisor John Kaioula expected to find when he started clearing out his office in preparation for reconstruction of the utility’s Paterson St. Operations Center. Read more » -
Planned Blackhawk Water Tower signals growth on the far west side Posted 08/27/2015
It’s pretty hard to miss – a large sign posted at the edge of a cornfield on Old Sauk and Pioneer roads that reads, “Future site of Madison Water Tower.” But the sign isn’t actually in Madison. It’s in the Town of Middleton. Read more » -
MWU customers catch plumbing leaks – online Posted 07/17/2015
A “leak” doesn’t sound like much – a dripping faucet here, a running toilet there – but it all adds up. In the U.S., more than a trillion gallons of treated drinking water are lost every year to residential plumbing leaks, and for homeowners, catching a problem can be a real challenge. Read more » -
When winter's over: the lasting impact of road salt Posted 03/24/2014
(For more information on the impact of road salt in Wisconsin and what you can do to help, head to www.WiSaltWise.com.) "Ominous trend" Read more » -
Frozen on the inside: Indoor flooding season is here Posted 12/05/2013
"I can't believe how much water is in this house!" They're known among Madison Water Utility inspectors simply as "flooded houses" – homes with collapsed ceilings and peeling drywall, water pouring out from under doors, thick ice on the insides of windows. Water Utility service inspector Mark Ertel recalls a case one winter that started with a call about a water main break. Read more » -
Madison getting its first new water well in a decade Posted 11/27/2013
Slowly but surely It's not easy to drill a 915-foot hole – it takes weeks of cold, wet, muddy work. "You have to go slow to get it straight," says Madison Water Utility design and construction engineer Dennis Cawley. "You don't drill rock out fast." Read more » -
Rebuilding pride in Paterson Posted 11/15/2013
"We're working on our knees" It's Friday, and Madison Water Utility master mechanic Brian Boettcher has just moved a large dump truck into his shop, careful not to scrape the room's ceiling. To change the truck's oil, he'll have to lie on his back. "The older I get, the harder it is," Boettcher admits. Read more » -
Lake View Reservoir reconstruction sparks neighborhood interest Posted 11/11/2013
Saying goodbye to the old teapot Read more » -
Madison Water Utility builds new water mains -- inside the old ones Posted 10/31/2013
Embracing new technology Imagine Badger Rd. completely gutted – nothing but dirt and gravel, impassable for months. Same story for West Mifflin St. and Lake Mendota Drive. It's what would have happened had Madison Water Utility chosen to dig up and replace the aging water mains that run beneath those streets. Read more » -
Well hunters: Finding Madison's long-hidden private wells Posted 10/22/2013
Going door-to-door Kevin Miller has been knocking on a lot of doors lately, but he's not selling anything. He's searching for something. I usually say, 'I'm here to look for private wells.' And then I get the questions, 'Why would you be doing that?'" Read more » -
Madison women make history -- with a little help from their friends Posted 10/14/2013
MWU creates first women's "tapping team" in Wisconsin Read more » -
Bad Medicine Posted 10/07/2013
Updated on May, 14, 2015 - 11:00am Initiative aims to keep pharmaceuticals out of our wastewater and landfills It's an alarming thought – prescription drugs like anti-depressants, hormones, painkillers, antibiotics, and steroids showing up in the water supply. But it's happening in cities across the country, especially those that get their water from lakes and rivers. Read more » -
Sometimes, it's what you don't see Posted 09/25/2013
The stories keep coming in – the landlord who found a broken showerhead spewing water in an unoccupied apartment; the man with a silently running toilet; the couple unaware that a burst hose was gushing in their yard. "They normally say, 'It's impossible. There's no way for that much water to be used and I wouldn't notice it,'" says Madison Water Utility customer service representative Sherri Becker, who often fields calls from customers who've gotten a "continuous usage" letter from the utility to alert them about a possible water leak. Read more » -
Rediscovering the reservoir Posted 09/17/2013
Westward expansion It was the mid-1920s – when Regent Street led to the very edge of Madison, when farm fields stretched across places that would later become Hill Farms, Sunset Village, Westmorland, and Midvale Heights. A population boom was coming, and it would take a feat of engineering to make sure Madison was ready. Read more » -
MWU honored for winning Best-Tasting Water in the state! Posted 09/04/2013
Darn tasty water It's not every day that MWU employees stand before the Madison Common Council surrounded by cheers and applause. But it's also not every day that the city is honored by the Wisconsin Water Association (WWA) for having the best-tasting water in the state. Read more » -
Our graywater experiment: 8 years and counting Posted 08/20/2013
"Toilet uses recycled water." The simple placards posted in every restroom stall at Madison Water Utility's Olin St. offices are among the few small hints you'll find of the Utility's big experiment in water conservation – the first large-scale graywater system ever installed in Madison. Read more » -
Wisconsin's first ever women's tapping team created at MWU Posted 08/13/2013
It's not easy. Tapping a copper line into a gushing water main takes skill, speed, strength – and a willingness to get soaked. But members of Wisconsin's first ever women's tapping team are ready for the challenge. "I thought, 'We have enough women in the utility, we could do this,'" says Kara Jafferis, on-call coordinator at Madison Water Utility. Read more »