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City of Sherwood, Oregon
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Drinking Water Quality

Ensuring Quality Water
Safe, reliable drinking water is City of Sherwood’s number one priority. We consistently deliver water that meets or is better than all federal and state drinking water standards. All water we receive is treated by the agency we receive the water from. However, City of Sherwood conducts regular water testing to ensure that the water we provide remains safe for you to drink.

Water Treatment - Portland Water Bureau
Both of Portland's water sources (Bull Run and Columbia South Shore Well field) are unfiltered. Chlorine, ammonia and PH adjustments are added to meet federal drinking water standards. Visit the Portland Water Bureau Water Quality Web Site.

Testing Your Water
The quality and safety of your water is our number one priority. City of Sherwood, the Portland Water Bureau, and the JWC regularly test your water supply for approximately 200 contaminants. Testing includes all contaminants regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), plus many unregulated contaminants. Sampling is conducted at various locations in the water sources, including the JWC water treatment plant and the distribution system.
To ensure that when you turn on your tap, your water meets this commitment, we constantly monitor the water by taking samples. Once these samples are taken, the testing process proceeds as follows:

  • Samples are refrigerated and taken to a certified testing lab. City of Sherwood only contracts with laboratories that have been approved by the Oregon Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (ORELAP) to analyze drinking water standards.
  • The lab sends the test results directly to the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) Drinking Water Program (with the exception of Disinfectant Residual/Disinfectant By-products and fluoride reports, which City of Sherwood sends directly to DHS).
  • A Consumer Confidence Report (sampling results from the past year) is sent to customers once a year.
  • Each element has different regulations to adhere to if they fall outside of the acceptable range. In the extremely rare occurrence that an element falls outside of the range, we will re-sample it. If it still falls out of the range, we will take whatever action is necessary to rectify the situation and follow the proper notification procedures. Because we purchase our water from the City of Portland and the JWC, many of the corrective actions would be taken by the entity who supplies the water.
Lead
City of Sherwood’s water source contains no detectable lead. Exposure to lead through drinking water is possible if materials in a building's plumbing contain lead. If you have questions about lead in your drinking water, the following resources can help answer your questions:
System Monitoring
City of Sherwood’s water system is monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Approximately 2,000 bits of information are examined, including water flows, pressure and reservoir levels, chemical feeds, and intrusion alarms. If the monitors find anything wrong with any part of our system, an alarm alerts an operator to a problem. During nights and weekends, a dialing system notifies an after-hours operator to the alarm condition.

For More Information
For more information about the quality of City of Sherwood’s water sources, contact City of Sherwood’s Public Works Department or check out our Consumer Confidence Reports.