2. The water cycle is the constant movement of water from earth’s surface, to the atmosphere, and back again. This cycle is continuous and constantly moves water around our Earth. Water is moved from the earth’s surface to the sky - evaporation. Water vapor forms tiny droplets in the sky - condensation. Water falls back to earth as rain or snow - precipitation. Water on earth’s surface penetrates the ground - percolation. This is the never ending water cycle.

3. Water covers about 70% of the earth's surface. Water makes up almost 66% of the human body. An ear of corn is 80% water. Americans drink more than 1 billion glasses of tap water every day. On average it takes 40,000 gallons of water to manufacture a new car and its four tires. Public water systems in the USA process nearly 34 billion gallons of water per day.

4. South Harrison Water pumps ground water from wells, NOT river water which is called surface water. Ground water is the result of percolation of water down to the water table and is stored in aquifers. An aquifer is a sand and gravel area that stores a lot of water. Water wells are deep enough to pump water out of these ground water aquifers. The sand and gravel aquifer helps naturally filter contaminates out of the ground water. Our water wells are capable of producing well over 10,000,000 gallons per day.

5. South Harrison Water actually pumps on average about 800,000 gallons of water every day throughout the year. During summer months when water usage is high, we pump about 1,400,000 gallons per day.

6. South Harrison Water removes calcium hardness, filters, and chemically treats every gallon of water we pump from our water treatment plant. The well water hardness coming into our treatment plant is about 300 ppm, or 17.5 grains. Our finished water hardness is about 120 ppm, or 7 grains. We remove hundreds of tons of calcium hardness from our water supply every year. Our water is dosed with chlorine at about 1.0 part per million and fluoride at 1.0 part per million. Chlorine is used as a disinfectant that kills bacteria that can cause some illnesses. Fluoride helps prevent tooth decay. For reference purposes, a part per million is like one cent out of $10,000.00.

7. We have about 400 miles of water lines covering some 200 square miles of land in Harrison County. Our water lines cover 30% of Harrison County's surface area, but serve only 20% of the residents. We provide water to over 3,300 water meters. This equals a population of about 8,900.

8. Our water is tested by us 365 days per year to make sure it is safe to drink. We test at two different locations for: total chlorine and free chlorine. We test at one location for: fluoride, raw water hardness, raw water alkalinity, raw water pH, raw water temperature, finished water hardness, finished water alkalinity, finished water pH, and finished water temperature. We do this every single day of the year, which totals over 4,800 test ran on our water each year.

9. Our water is also tested by a state approved outside laboratory to ensure our water quality. Water utilities are regulated by the US EPA and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. They mandate a testing schedule for different contaminants that may be present in drinking water. Some of these tests are done weekly, others done monthly, some are done four times per year, and others are done once per year. Each year dozens of chemicals are tested for to ensure that our ground water, and your drinking water, has not been contaminated. We are required to send each customer a printed annual Consumer Confidence Report that contains information on our testing results. This report is mailed out by June 30th each year. An online version of this report is available on this web site.