One of the port’s water storage tanks is shown alongside the water tower that will be replaced in 2018

There’s a good chance you’re familiar with at least one project, tenant or location at the Port of Vancouver USA. Maybe you know our tenant WareHouse ’23, a locally owned restaurant combining great food with great service in a great location. Perhaps you’ve seen our grain elevator in the Vancouver skyline or attended a Board of Commissioners meeting in our administrative office on Lower River Road.

While these things begin to paint a picture of how much land the port covers, there are many other buildings, projects and habitats that make up our property, which stretches from the I-5 Bridge past Vancouver Lake and encompasses 1,643 public acres of industrial, commercial and ecological land. What many may not know is, the port also owns and maintains its own water system that serves many of these locations, tenants, and customers.

The port is served by three major wells that fill two large water storage tanks used to temporarily store the water that is pumped from the wells. Currently, these tanks hold approximately 200,000 gallons of potable water. We recently completed a project that upgraded one of these tanks, and the other is scheduled for an upgrade in 2018. When these upgrades are installed, the total capacity of our tanks will be around 350,000 gallons.

This port-owned and -maintained system serves tenants, public restrooms, vessels that call on the Port of Vancouver and several of our offices. The system also provides fire suppression in warehouses in the event of a fire. We have three highly skilled employees who are responsible for daily monitoring and maintenance of the equipment and system. We also have a cross-departmental team of professionals that developed an emergency response plan and performs annual response drills to prepare for water system emergencies.

Our water system is regulated by the Department of Health and regular testing is conducted to measure for more than 75 contaminants. Year after year, the test results meet all requirements that validate the hard work and dedication of those who maintain and monitor our water system.

Visit our Water Quality page to read our annual reports and learn more about our dedication to preserving and protecting our region’s water quality.