Water made this city possible. Early settlers were drawn to the area’s proximity to Lake Michigan as well as the convergence of the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers. Even the city’s name means “gathering place by the water,” from the Potawatomi word “millioki.”

Now, many community leaders believe our future could revolve around water technology. It’s certainly an abundant liquid resource, as this snapshot reveals.

34.7 square miles - Drainage area for Menomonee River

18.8 square miles - Drainage area for Kinnickinnic River

696 square miles - Drainage area for Milwaukee River

12,600 - Number of streams and rivers in Wisconsin

84,000+ miles - How far all of Wisconsin’s streams and rivers would stretch end-to-end, enough to circle the equator
three times

19,824 - Number of fire hydrants Water Works maintains in Milwaukee, Greenfield, St. Francis and Hales Corners

30.7% - Percentage of Wisconsin’s land mass located within the Great Lakes basin

$500 - Yearly average cost of municipal drinking water for Americans

$200 - Yearly average that Milwaukeeans pay for their drinking water

6 inches - Necessary thickness of ice on a lake/lagoon before ice fishing is possible

1 - Number of indoor sea-level speedskating ovals in the U.S.: the Pettit National Ice Center

150,000 gallons - Monthly water use for icemaking at Pettit National Ice Center

800 gallons - Water necessary to resurface the speedskating oval

500 gallons - Volume of water a Zamboni can hold

18 million - Pounds of chemicals Milwaukee Water Works uses annually in water treatment

500 - Contaminants Milwaukee Water Works tests for when treating drinking water (EPA only requires tests for 90)

9 Steps in treatment process for Milwaukee drinking water (ozone disinfection, coagulation, settling, filtration, chlorine disinfection, fluoridation, clearwell, corrosion control and chloramine protection)

29.1 in. - Average rainfall per year in milwaukee

12.27 inches - Rainfall during the city’s all-time wettest month, June 2008

279 ft. - Average depth of Lake Michigan

922 ft. - Maximum depth of Lake Michigan

By the Gallon
1,287 trillion - Volume of Lake Michigan

41 billion - Total pumped by Water Works in 2008

47 - Average used daily per person served by Water Works