The Muscle Shoals Water and Wastewater Department serves customers by supplying, treating and disposing of water and wastewater.

Water Treatment Process

The Muscle Shoals Water and Wastewater Department supplies drinking water to residents from its surface water treatment plant located on Wilson Lake.

At the treatment plant, the water is treated for consumption by six processes:

• Rapid Mixing – The untreated water is pumped to a rapid mix chamber and aluminum sulfate (alum) and chlorine added.
• Flocculation – This slow mixing process allows the alum treated solids to stick together forming a heavier layer of particle known as “floc”.
• Sedimentation – The “floc” is separated from the water in this process. This physical settling process allows the floc to settle to the bottom of the tank and the clear water on top is then removed.
• Filtration – The clear water left is filtered to remove any remnant particles. To remove these particles, the water passes through filters that consist of varying sizes of sand and anthracite coal.
• Fluoridation and Disinfection – Fluoride to added to protect children’s teeth from decay and chlorine is added for disinfection.
• PH Control – pH control is the final step in the treatment process. Here, lime is added for the purpose of increasing the pH of the water. By doing this, the water becomes alkaline instead of acidic which makes it non-corrosive and allows a thin protective coating of calcium to form on the pipe that serves as a barrier between the pipe and the water.

Wastewater from households and industrial use is collected through a series of pipes known as collectors. These collectors convey the wastewater to local pump stations which, in turn, pump the wastewater to the treatment plant.

A biological process referred to as “activated sludge” treats the wastewater for the City of Muscle Shoals. The waste is converted to a more stable material via this process and is then removed from the water and disposed of safely as a soil conditioner. The remaining water is disinfected with ultraviolet light and discharged into Pond Creek.