Water

Central Arkansas Water is the public drinking water system that serves Little Rock, North Little Rock and most of the suburban areas.

The raw water supply comes from two man-made lakes. Lake Winona has a surface area of 1,240 acres and a storage capacity of 14 billion gallons. The average depth of the lake is 34.7 feet. Lake Winona is 35 miles west of the metropolitan area in the Ouachita National Forest and has a watershed of 43 square miles. A 39-inch-diameter gravity-flow pipeline delivers water from the lake to the system’s service area. The pipeline can handle 23 million gallons per day.

Lake Maumelle, the largest water source, has an area of 8,900 acres and a capacity of 72 billion gallons. The average depth is 24.7 feet. The lake is connected to the water production system via a 48-inch-diameter raw water pipeline and a 72-inch-diameter raw water pipeline. The safe yield of the lake is 93 million gallons per day.

Because the elevation of Lake Maumelle is below the water treatment plants, pumping is necessary. The Lake Maumelle Pumping Station has four 30-MGD pumps and two 15-MGD pumps.

Water treatment takes place at the Ozark Point Water Treatment Plant and the Jack H. Wilson Water Treatment Plant. The plants can accept water from both lakes.

The two treatment plants have a rated capacity of 174 million gallons per day. With existing water treatment plants and sources, the Little Rock-North Little Rock supply will be adequate until the year 2020. Planning already is under way to secure a future source that will meet the needs of the metropolitan area well into the 21st century.

Central Arkansas Water serves a population of approximately 388,000 within a 360-square-mile area. In 2005, systemwide consumption was 23.9 billion gallons.

Benton’s water is obtained from the Saline River. Storage capacity is five million gallons (finished water), with a pumping capacity exceeding 12 million gallons per day.

Bryant obtains water from Central Arkansas Water. Recent improvements have increased storage capacity to two million gallons.

Cabot is supplied by two deep wells with a storage capacity of 950,000 gallons. Pumping capacity is 1.5 million gallons per day.

Carlisle’s water system operates at 1.1 million gallons per day, with a surplus of 500,000 gallons per day.

Conway’s raw water is obtained from Lake James H. Brewer with an emergency supply coming from Cadron Creek. The water treatment plant’s capacity is 15 million gallons per day and soon will be 23 million gallons per day, as a new plant is placed on line. The overhead water storage capacity is nine million gallons.

Jacksonville’s water supply is obtained from municipal wells and Central Arkansas Water. Storage capacity is 9.25 million gallons with a pumping capacity of 10.4 million gallons per day.
 
Lonoke obtains its water from two wells. Storage capacity is one million gallons with a pumping capacity of 2.6 million gallons per day.

Maumelle’s water is obtained from eight wells. The system capacity is 6.2 million gallons per day, and by spring 2007, it should be eight million gallons per day.

Sherwood obtains its water from Central Arkansas Water.

Rate schedules for the various water systems can be obtained from the respective water utilities.