The Dakota Sioux chose the land home to present-day Minneapolis due to the abundance of water. The city grew as different industrial operations recognized the opportunity to run their businesses using hydropower. In the early 19th century, Minneapolis was viewed as the lumber and flour milling capital of the world. As the city expanded industrial operations, it was necessary to establish a waterworks to monitor Minneapolis water quality. Minneapolis built the first waterworks in Minnesota in 1871 to meet the needs of the city’s growing population. 

In the late 19th century, a typhoid epidemic was blamed on Minneapolis water quality. The US Army studied typhoid in the city and found that there was fecal matter in the Minneapolis tap water supply. The city wasn’t able to resolve its issue with bacteria until 1910 when it built a new sterilization plant.

Nowadays, Minneapolis’s water quality varies because residents get water from both private and public sources. But, generally, Minneapolis tap water is safe to drink. Community water systems serve about 80% of people living in Minnesota. The remaining 20% of Minnesotans get their drinking water from private well systems. The local Minneapolis government recommends that private well owners test and maintain household water supplies. 

The city of Minneapolis pumps approximately 21 billion gallons of water from the Mississippi River each year and delivers an average of 57 million gallons of drinking water every day. The Minneapolis water distribution system includes nine pump stations and 1,000 miles of water mains. Minneapolis water quality is monitored daily, with hundreds of tests being conducted at treatment plants and distribution centers. 

Minneapolis tap water comes from the Mississippi River. Groundwater supplies about 75% of Minnesota drinking water, and surface water supplies the remaining 25%. Both sources of water can contain microbial contaminants that come from commercial livestock operations and septic systems. Other sources of inorganic contaminants include stormwater runoff and industrial operations.