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 water resource recovery facilities 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 operates and maintains the regional interceptor system and all nine regional water resource recovery facilities.
Virtual tour of the Metropolitan Water Resource Recovery Facility
The Metropolitan facility is the largest water resource recovery facility 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 Water Resource Recovery Facility is working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to protect our region’s water and provide clean water for future generations.