Each of the eight settling basins in this building has an area of about one acre and a depth of 30 feet. Floc is the name given to the white substance formed by particles colliding with and sticking to the polymer that can be seen floating on top of the water in the settling basins. The entire settling process takes several hours. Upon leaving the basins, the settled water flows to the sand filters. The 48 dual filters in each filter building are capable of filtering more than 800 million gallons of water per day.
Settled water enters the filter and passes downward through the sand and gravel.
All remaining floc is removed by this process. The end result is crystal clear water. The filtered water flows into clearwell storage basins below the filters. The rate of flow is regulated by an automatic valve system on each of the filters. Two 1,800 feet long filtered water collectors then transport the water from the clearwells to a Ten-acre, underground reservoir at the west end of the plant.