Bismarck public water system guide

The 2025 report covers more than the two disinfection-byproduct highlights. Its 31 result rows include minerals, disinfectant, lead and copper, turbidity, coliform monitoring and lithium. Lead and copper measurements date to 2024; the report year does not make every measurement a 2025 test.

The report’s annual profile gives average total hardness as 124 mg/l (7.3 grains/gallon). Its March 10 table separately lists “Hardness, total (as CACO3)” at 151 ppm. These are different reported observations, not interchangeable measurements or a calculated trend.

Start with your water bill or utility account to confirm that BISMARCK CITY OF serves your address. Then use the system page to read each result with its testing date, units, limit, range and source notes. A system report does not establish conditions at your tap.

Older reports preserve earlier water sampling and assessment history. The 2022 and 2023 reports repeat August 2021 lead and copper results; repeating a result in a new report is not a new water sampling event. The 2024 report changes the lead and copper table from exceedance counts to ranges of detections.

The annual profiles report average hardness between 118 and 133 mg/l across 2020–2025. These describe treated-water averages, not a measurement at your address. The original grains-per-gallon figures are retained without recalculating them. Summer production labels also change: 2023 says “Average Summer Month,” while 2024 and 2025 say “Peak Summer Month.”

City of Bismarck 2025 Annual Report on the Quality of Tap Water, six pages. Fresh download verified September 17, 2026 against the prior complete review. Historical report-period information; consult official notices for current instructions.

Bismarck’s utility billing office handles city service accounts. Owners can call 701-355-1700, option 1, to arrange service changes; renters should ask their property owner or manager to submit the request. A Bismarck mailing address alone does not establish the serving water system.

The city directs rural Bismarck customers to South Central Regional Water District (701-258-8710) and Lincoln residents to the City of Lincoln (701-258-7969). Bismarck supplies water to both utilities, but a wholesale supply relationship does not make their customers direct Bismarck account holders.

The 2025 annual report describes a horizontal collector well south of Memorial Bridge drawing at a depth of 80 feet from an aquifer directly recharged by the Missouri River. A direct river intake upstream of the bridge is the backup. The presence of a well does not make this an unrelated deep-groundwater supply.

The report attributes “moderately susceptible” source-water terminology to the North Dakota assessment. That describes potential source vulnerability, not a measured contaminant level or a household result. Utility Billing, 701-355-1700 option 1, is the report’s contact for a copy of the assessment.

Protecting this supply includes the river and the water reaching the collector well. North Dakota’s source-water program maps protection areas, inventories potential contamination sources and evaluates susceptibility. “Moderately Susceptible,” the designation reported for Bismarck, describes potential source vulnerability; it is not a tap-water test result.

The 2025 report carries August 8, 2024 residential-tap results: lead 90th percentile 2.8 ppb and copper 90th percentile 0.0285 ppm. Thirty sites were sampled for each, with no sites exceeding the printed action levels of 15 ppb and 1.3 ppm. The 90th percentile describes the sampled group, not every home.

The 2022 report describes a Level 1 assessment after four total-coliform-positive samples on October 26–27. The 2023 report describes a Level 2 assessment after further positives in August. Both reports describe completed assessments and corrective work. These historical events belong alongside later results; a later annual report’s general standards statement does not erase earlier monitoring history.

EPA’s record independently identifies ND0800080 as BISMARCK CITY OF, a local-government community water system using groundwater under the influence of surface water. Its July 9, 2026 SDWIS extract lists 72,417 people served. That federal snapshot is not a live population estimate or an address-service guarantee.

The returned sanitary-survey history includes September 13, 2022; August 15, 2023; July 17, 2024; and September 16, 2025. The 2023 record flags distribution recommendations and the 2024 record flags finished-water-storage recommendations. These survey codes do not explain the underlying work or establish whether every recommendation has been resolved.

The broader 2026 Q2 SDWA download contains 39 site-visit records from 1991–2025, 21 lead 90th-percentile sample records from 1992–2024, and nine event/milestone records. Repeated lead results are retained where the source has separate record identifiers; they are not counted as additional sampling rounds. No exact-PWSID rows were returned from the download’s violation/enforcement table.

The 2020 annual report says the state reduced monitoring frequency for certain contaminants because concentrations were not expected to vary significantly. That historical footnote does not establish which waivers, variances or exemptions are currently effective. Current approval documents, conditions and expiration dates have not been verified.

EPA’s July 2026 UCMR 5 release contains 95 exact-PWSID results for Bismarck: 29 PFAS analytes and lithium. Lithium has four measured results in 2025: 23.3, 24.2, 19.6 and 40.9 µg/L. The PFAS records returned have “<” signs and blank numerical-result fields, meaning below each analyte’s minimum reporting level, not zero.

The first three event codes each contain 30 results, but SE4 contains only five in this federal release. The city’s 2025 report describes four rounds for 30 contaminants. The page retains both sources without inventing the 25 missing fourth-event rows or calling the federal extract a complete four-round PFAS set.

The city’s inventory distinguishes lead, galvanized requiring replacement, unknown material and non-lead lines. “Unknown” means the material has not been confirmed from the available records; it is not a lead finding. The 2025 report says the service lines are privately owned and that owners may need to provide access for inspection.

Call 701-355-1700, option 1, to arrange a Field Service Representative visit or ask how to correct a material record. The city links an address-level inventory map. Use the property record and confirmation process rather than estimating pipe material from a home’s age.

A September 17, 2026 aggregate query of the city’s mapped inventory returned 23,762 records. The public-side material fields include 55 lead and 3,523 unknown records; customer-side fields include 145 lead, 13 galvanized-steel and 2,175 unknown records. The two sides can belong to the same service line, so their counts must not be added as separate households.

The Water Treatment page lists plant capacity of 28.6 MGD and about 22 million gallons of storage in five underground reservoirs and three elevated tanks. It describes five pump stations, about 9,000 valves and 3,900 hydrants.

The distribution and treatment webpages describe approximately 375 miles of pipe, from 3 to 42 inches in diameter. The linked 2025 plant handout instead says 320 miles. The difference is retained as a source disagreement; neither figure is silently substituted for the other.

The city’s collector-well handout traces planning in 2002–2003, permitting in 2005, siting work in 2006, caisson construction in 2009–2010 and transmission/pump-station construction in 2012–2013. Its phase costs total separate historical projects, not a present capital budget.

For 2026 watermain work, the city’s construction map identifies projects WU149, WU150 and WU152. Use its blue watermain-rehabilitation layer to locate mapped work; a planned map segment does not establish a current outage or completion date. Engineering can clarify the project affecting your street at 701-355-1505 or [email protected].

For a possible water break, call 701-355-1700, option 4, Monday–Friday, 8 am–5 pm. After hours use option 0. For provider confirmation, bills or service-line identification, use option 1. The city’s Water page also lists [email protected] for Utility Operations.

The 2025 report directs people seeking lead testing to 701-355-1700, option 4. The city’s lead page lists laboratory options and says to contact them directly about services. Ask about sample bottles, collection instructions, cost and turnaround before collecting a sample; the page does not promise free testing.

School and child-care testing is a separate building-level question. NDDEQ’s program page, checked September 17, 2026, says no state program funds are currently available to pay for sample testing, but technical assistance is available for certified laboratories, collection, interpreting results and reducing lead.

The city’s Utility Billing page recommends Monday and Thursday for even-numbered homes and businesses, Tuesday and Friday for odd-numbered addresses, to balance summer outdoor water use. This is the posted watering schedule checked September 17, 2026; it is not described here as an emergency drought declaration.

City customers can use the free Water Analytics portal to see annual, monthly, daily and hourly usage and set text or email alerts. Account setup requires a utility billing account number and water meter number. Consumption alerts are not drinking-water advisories.

The city’s retrieved fall 2026 schedule lists hydrant work September 14–18 and September 21–25, with testing from 8 am–4:30 pm. Work can disturb sediment and temporarily discolor water. Check the current utility notice before planning around these dates; this is the schedule retrieved September 17, not a live work-status feed.

The reviewed billing guidance does not specify named emergency drought stages or their triggers. The posted even/odd schedule therefore cannot be used to infer a current emergency restriction. Check official notices and confirm any restrictions with Utility Operations.

Bismarck bills monthly on cycles around the 10th, 20th and 30th, with payment due 15 days after the billing date. One water unit is 100 cubic feet, or 748 gallons. The city’s 2026 single-family water rates rise by usage tier: $1.80 per unit for units 1–8, $4.93 for 9–16, $6.34 for 17–24 and $8.10 for units 25 and above.

A combined utility bill also includes sewer, waste collection, stormwater, street lighting and other base charges. The water minimum for a 5/8-inch meter is $10.41; the published combined base charge ranges from $64.86 to $67.95 depending on the stormwater ASF category, before usage. Confirm the account classification and meter size with Utility Billing at 701-355-1700, option 1.

For difficulty paying a bill, contact Utility Billing at 701-355-1700, option 1, or [email protected] before assuming a payment arrangement or assistance award is available. The reviewed city billing resources do not establish a current income-based assistance amount, eligibility policy or application deadline. Service-line repair and lead-replacement funding are separate programs with their own conditions.

The 2025 report invites public participation at City Commission meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday each month, at 5:15 pm in the Tom Baker Meeting Room, City/County Building, 221 N. 5th Street. Check the current agenda for changes, meeting materials and participation instructions.

The report offers translation help by telephone and asks large-volume customers to share copies with tenants, residents, patients, students and employees who may not receive a water bill. It does not specify a menu of translated languages or accessible file formats; request the format you need from Utility Operations.