| In 1912, Cedar Falls’ increasing demand for water led to the digging of three wells in the area of the water works plant at the end of Twelfth Street. Advances in technology and hydrology resulted in these wells being dug to a depth of one hundred and ten feet in order to tap a reliable source of subsurface water. As the city and its need for water continued to grow, the three wells were gradually taken out of use beginning in 1952, with the construction of well number one at 612 East Twelfth Street and well number two in 1954 at the same location. |  | |
| Water pumped from these wells comes from the Cedar Valley
Aquifer. An aquifer is a geological formation capable of yielding enough water
to supply a well or spring. This aquifer is the same one that supplied Dry Run
Springs for thousands of years and now supplies water for thousands of people
and businesses located along the Cedar River. The aquifer is several hundred
miles long and starts in southern Minnesota, near Austin, and ends just south of
Cedar Falls. It flows primarily along the course of the Cedar River and is made
up of limestone rock, covered with clay soils. The limestone and clay filter out
impurities of surface water over hundreds of years as the aquifer is recharged
with water from spots in the northern end that break the surface through ponds,
creeks, and rivers, and spots of soft soil. |  |
Since 1952 chlorine has been added to the water supply to help maintain its purity as it moves through the piping system of the city. In 1958, fluoride was added to the Cedar Falls water supply to promote dental health. The addition of both of these chemicals to the water supply is not directly related to the condition of the water extracted from the aquifer. This is indicative of the fact that the water extracted from the Cedar Valley Aquifer is some of the purest in the world. Water from the aquifer taken in 1995 and carbon dated by UNI Professor Jim Walters was more than two thousand years old. The temperature of the water taken from the aquifer has always been a constant fifty-five degrees.
Water pumped into the city’s wells comes from pipes some twelve to sixteen inches in diameter that are seven to eight feet deep into the groundwater within the aquifer. Water is drawn from the aquifer with the help of pumps located in the well houses that run on electric power and have gas-powered backups. The depths of the wells in Cedar Falls now range anywhere from one hundred forty-seven feet to two hundred seventy-five feet. The depth of the wells depends upon the height above sea level of the well for it to get a seven to eight feet draw into the aquifer.
The water travels to mains from these pipes dug into the aquifer. The original 1888 spring water system contained more than seven miles of main. In 1915, three years after the first three wells were drilled in Cedar Falls, more than nineteen miles of main existed in the city. By 1945, approximately thirty-seven miles of main existed, and in 1999 there were more than one hundred sixty miles of main. Water was and is distributed from these mains to hydrants along principal streets for fire protection purposes and to households for domestic uses.
Originally, mains were made of cast iron pipe in twelve feet sections. These pipes were difficult to use due to the fact that they were made in sand molds and not uniform in thickness or diameter. Over time, innovations in the production of piping meant that the cast iron pipes became more uniform. Eventually, sections came in sixteen feet lengths and had rubber joints. By 1967, pipes were available in twenty feet sections and were made of a ductile iron. These are the type of pipe used today.
Water service pipes from the mains to households and businesses were originally made of galvanized steel or lead. A 1930 city ordinance required copper pipe to be used in street right-of-ways. The copper piping was more durable and longer lasting than galvanized steel or lead. Eventually, copper piping became the popular pipe to use with brass fittings.
Today, the Cedar Falls water works consist of two systems, the original Cedar Falls system and the North Cedar system, completed in 1975. The original system contains six wells and three water towers. Storage capacity of this system is two million two hundred twenty-five gallons. The North Cedar system is made up of two wells and one water tower, with a storage capacity of two hundred fifty thousand gallons. The reason for the separation of the two systems is due to the barrier of the Cedar River and the inefficiencies created by moving water through mains across the river. Both systems are interconnected, however.
This interconnection of the two Cedar Falls systems and their wells allows different wells to pump at different times to supply water to the entire city. Although water can and has been pumped directly from the wells to the customers through the mains during high use times, the four water towers generally do a very reliable job of maintaining a constant water pressure for the city.
The Cedar Valley Aquifer has provided a safe and abundant supply of water to the city for more than one hundred and fifty years. The people of Cedar Falls have been able to tap the resources of the aquifer in several ways to help maintain that constant supply of water needed for growth and continued survival of the city. Whether it is carrying water from a spring in a bucket or pumping water from a well more than two hundred feet below the surface, the city’s water system has changed dramatically over the past one hundred and fifty years.
