Drinking Water Management

In Burnsville, the drinking water supply comes from two sources: groundwater and surface water.

Groundwater is found underground in the spaces between soil, sand and rock. The water is stored in and moves through geological aquifers. Groundwater can be brought to the surface naturally through a spring or discharged through lakes and streams. It can also be extracted through man-made wells.

Surface water includes water bodies such as ponds, lakes, rivers and wetlands. The main water source for surface water in Burnsville is rainwater runoff and snowmelt. Rainwater runoff, snowmelt and surface water bodies also recharge the groundwater supply. Protecting surface water is essential to recharge the groundwater and protecting the drinking water supply. Learn more about what you can do to protect surface water quality.

Did You Know?

In the summer, two-thirds of Burnsville's water supply comes from groundwater, while the other one-third comes from surface water. This is reversed in the winter with two-thirds of the water supply coming from surface water and one-third coming from groundwater. The reason for the difference? Water use increases greatly during the summer due to lawn watering and other activities, so more water is pumped from the groundwater wells.
On average, 3.2 billion gallons of water were pumped from both groundwater and surface water. Burnsville's annual Drinking Water Quality Report details information about groundwater use.
Burnsville supplies 85% of the City of Savage's drinking water.