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Protecting health with high-quality water
The Portland Water Bureau recently published our 2026 Drinking Water Quality Report. The report shows that we continue to deliver clean, safe drinking water that meets or exceeds all state and federal drinking water standards!
"This report is more than just a regulatory requirement; it is a testament to our commitment to clean, safe, and reliable drinking water,” said Director of Public Utilities Dr. Ting Lu.
Delivering high-quality drinking water 24/7 to the Portland region takes a coordinated effort—and wise investment in our complex system.
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We continuously monitor water quality at key locations, and our water quality lab conducted almost 40,000 tests in 2025 to track more than 200 potential contaminants, including testing for Cryptosporidium. The only contaminants of concern in the Bull Run are naturally occurring microorganisms that live in virtually all freshwater ecosystems, such as Giardia, Cryptosporidium, fecal coliform bacteria, and total coliform bacteria. Portland's current drinking water treatment controls all of these organisms except Cryptosporidium.
When complete, the Bull Run filtration facility will remove Cryptosporidium, along with sediment and organic matter, from our drinking water. Filtration will also reduce disinfection byproducts and increase our water system’s resilience against earthquakes, wildfires, and other natural disasters. Our investment in filtration is one more way we’re protecting public health and ensuring Portland has an abundance of safe, clean drinking water for generations to come.
Learn all about the water you love by reading Portland Water Bureau’s 2026 Drinking Water Quality Report, which details the present and future of Portland’s precious resource.
Filtration construction update
About 430 craft workers are helping build new water infrastructure at the filtration facility site. Across the 95-acre work area, crews are pouring concrete, installing pipe, filling and leveling dirt, and building structures.
This month, crews began putting up structural steel and masonry walls for buildings that will support important operations and maintenance work at the filtration facility. This includes the administration building, where operations staff will manage the day-to-day drinking water treatment process, and the main electrical building, which will power the new facility.
Crews are also making steady progress on the large concrete basins that will be used in the multi-step drinking water treatment process.
Nearby, pipeline crews are working on the connections where new pipes will meet the existing water conduits. It takes careful planning and timing with water system operations to ensure we can continue providing the high level of service customers expect while crews complete the work necessary to tie in the new systems.
Workers also continue to dig the tunnels and shaft for new pipes that will carry water to the filtration facility for treatment. So far, they have excavated:
- 450 feet of the 1,245-foot north tunnel
- 125 feet of the 1,245-foot south tunnel
- 195 feet of the 237-foot shaft
Construction is now about 40 percent complete for the new filtration facility and about 44 percent complete for the new pipelines.
To learn more about what’s happening at the construction sites, visit Portland.gov/FiltrationConstruction.
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Portland Utility Board project update meeting
The Water Bureau is providing the Portland Utility Board (PUB) with monthly updates on project delivery.
In July, the Project Delivery Advisory Team (PDAT) will update PUB on its findings and recommendations for communicating construction milestones.
Learn more: Portland Utility Board events
Bull Run Filtration: neighbor update meeting (July 2026)
The Water Bureau will host an online community meeting to update neighbors on Bull Run Filtration construction.
Date: Thursday, July 9, 2026
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Where: Zoom (register here)
Can't make it this time? Join us for the next in-person Coffee with the Contractor event on August 13.
Stay up to date on the latest construction activity:
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About the Bull Run Treatment Projects
To comply with federal Safe Drinking Water Act regulations, the Portland Water Bureau is building a water filtration facility and related pipelines, and recently completed an improved corrosion control treatment facility. The Bull Run Treatment Projects will provide consistent, high-quality drinking water that meets today’s water quality standards, helps address aging infrastructure concerns and future risks and regulations, and improves system resilience to help keep our water safe and abundant for generations to come.
Learn more at portland.gov/BullRunProjects
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Know someone who would be interested in updates about the Bull Run Treatment Projects?
Please share the news!
The City of Portland is committed to providing meaningful access. To request translation, interpretation, modifications, accommodations, or other auxiliary aids or services, contact 503-823-7432, Relay: 711.
Traducción e Interpretación | Biên Dịch và Thông Dịch | अनुवादन तथा व्याख्या
口笔译服务 | Устный и письменный перевод | Turjumaad iyo Fasiraad
Письмовий і усний переклад | Traducere și interpretariat | Chiaku me Awewen Kapas
Translation and Interpretation: 503-823-7432, Relay: 711
This email was sent from an unmonitored inbox. Please do not reply. Instead, contact us at bullrunprojects@portlandoregon.gov.
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