In the Twin Cities region, most homes, businesses, schools, industries, and the other places we work and play are connected to one of the Metropolitan Council's nine wastewater treatment plants through an extensive network of sewer pipes.
Whenever someone takes a shower, flushes a toilet, or runs a washing machine, the used water is carried through a pipe away from the property into a municipal sanitary sewer pipe. That pipe, in turn, is connected to a regional sewer interceptor, and finally to the wastewater treatment plant.
Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) operates and maintains the regional interceptor system and all nine regional treatment plants.
Virtual tour of the Metropolitan Plant
The Metropolitan Plant is the largest wastewater treatment plant in Minnesota, processing over half of the wastewater in the Twin Cities region before returning clean water back to the Mississippi. The video below walks through each step of the water resource recovery process to give viewers an understanding of what happens to used water when it leaves their home or business. The Metropolitan Plant is working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to protect our region’s water and provide clean water for future generations.