About the Department of Utilities

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The Department of Utilities provides drinking water, stormwater and wastewater services to residents and businesses in the city of Sacramento.

Drinking water

Every day in the city of Sacramento, an average of 80 million gallons of drinking water are produced – the equivalent of about 120 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

About 80 percent of Sacramento’s water supply comes from the Sacramento and American rivers and about 20 percent comes from groundwater wells.

That water is pumped into treatment facilities that make it safe for people to drink.

Raw water goes through a treatment process to help ensure it is free from harmful material, including sand, silt, bacteria and viruses.

A team of experts perform water quality tests around the clock, every day of the year.

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A sedimentation basin at the Sacramento River Water Treatment Plant

Stormwater

The Department of Utilities provides critical flood control services for city residents and businesses.

Because Sacramento sits at a low elevation and is surrounded by levees, all rain must be pumped out of the city, whereas most cities can rely on gravity.

Crews must maintain, repair and operate hundreds of miles of pipes, pumps, as well as levees, creeks, ditches and canals.

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City crews repair a levee off the Sacramento River

Wastewater

Hundreds of staff also operate and maintain the City's sewer systems, which collect and convey wastewater away from residents and businesses. 

Dozens of pumping stations and hundreds of miles of pipe make up the wastewater system.

Two types of systems -- a combined stormwater and wastewater system, as well a separated one -- collect sewage and transport it to the Sacramento Area Sewer District.

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A wastewater maintenance crew

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