Celebrating 50 years of water excellence

Celebrating 50 years of water excellence A brief history of the Roseville Water Treatment Plant at Barton Road

Roseville’s inception was a result of the railroad boom, but the need for utility services helped build this community along the way. Many years before Roseville had a reliable water source, residents relied heavily on backyard wells, ditch water, water sprinkling carts, and a local water company for their water.

Many years before Roseville had a reliable water source, residents relied heavily on backyard wells, ditch water, water sprinkling carts, and a local water company for their water.

In 1934, Mayor Rolfus signed a water bond contract to purchase the local water company. A move that allowed the city to control its water supply future for years to come.

Since purchasing a private water company, efforts to build infrastructure to keep pace with a thriving Roseville were necessary.

Around 1958, Roseville began an extensive water system expansion, which included a new water transmission to increase both water capacity and pressure. This was important because Roseville saw an increase in population.

In 1967, after establishing a 40-year agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the city envisioned the future water supply from Folsom, resulting in the decision to construct a water treatment facility.

When plans were underway to obtain water from Folsom, the community coined the term “Going to Folsom”. At the time, leadership had the forethought to obtain more water supplies, given Roseville’s projected population growth. Later that year, a bond election decided the fate of our water supplies. We can all guess how that panned out.

As noted in the caption, Roseville used a canal for its water supplies.

In 1971, the water treatment plant was dedicated several years after the plant completion, memorializing the $6.5 million project. A combination of water rate increases, bond financing and help from the federal government paid for the project.

One of the ways the plant was built was a result a rate adjustment on water rates.

The Barton Road Water Treatment Plant initially operated with an average capacity of treating 12 million gallons of water per day. Since its initial build, the treatment plant was expanded in 1989, 2000, and 2007 to accommodate additional water supply demands.

This is a clip from the Press Tribune in August 1970 showing an aerial view of the early makings of the treatment plant.

Our water demands currently range from 45 million gallons a day during the peak summer months to about 12 million gallons a day in the winter months.

Barton Road Water Treatment Plant continues to be able to process 100 million gallons of water per day, which supplies the ever-growing region with a network of many miles of pipes, thousands of fire hydrants, tanks to hold millions upon millions of gallons of clean water. But, we are growing other water supplies, too!

In addition to surface water supply availability, we also have a growing groundwater program that complements water we obtain from Folsom Lake, and we can use it to both replenish the basin or extract for drinking water purposes.

Although our water supplies are more reliable than many other communities, we know that we cannot rest on our laurels. We will continue to plan and chart the course for a water supply portfolio that builds redundancy and reduces risk – this means more groundwater wells, figuring out ways to get additional surface water from Folsom without the reservoir and bolstering our recycled water program.

In February 2020, we signed a long-term agreement with the federal government to secure our water resources from Folsom Lake. It is the same deal made over half a century ago that prompted the development of this plant that we are celebrating this year.

As we celebrate 50 years of supplying reliable, high-quality surface water from Barton Road, we are continuing to secure our water future through the diversity of water resources so that when Roseville turns the tap, we can deliver fresh water every single day for a thriving community.

Appreciate