At Bigfork Water & Sewer District, our goal is to provide safe, clean, sparkling water and responsible wastewater treatment to all of our residents!
Hours of Operation: 8:00 - 5:00 Monday - Friday. Office is closed from 12:00-1:00 for lunch
Our office is closed weekends and government holidays.
Bigfork County Water and Sewer District History
Bigfork County Water and Sewer District has served the unincorporated village of Bigfork with water and sewer services since December 1984. In the early 1960’s Flathead County installed the sewer system and operated it until the formation of the District. Pacific Power and Light previously owned and operated the water system, much of which was put in place in the 1960’s. PP & L gifted the water system to the sewer district in 1986. There are currently 1,544 sewer connections and 1527 water connections.
Water is supplied to the District’s system by four wells drilled in 1992, 1993, and 2014. The wells are located about 3 miles north of Bigfork on a 1.5-acre parcel owned by the District. The distribution system contains approximately 25 miles of distribution pipes, five storage tanks, and three booster stations. Treatment is not provided, but new chlorination equipment was installed in 2014 in the event chlorination is required in the future. Montana Department of Environmental Quality requires that water systems meet certain minimum requirements defined in Circular DEQ 1, Standards for Water Works. The US Environmental Protection Agency has established National Primary Drinking Water Standards, which set maximum contaminant levels for many water quality parameters that have been shown to have adverse health effects to the public. Standards for most primary contaminants have been established and are enforceable by the Safe Drinking Water Act. Bigfork Water and Sewer’s water meets and/or exceeds all requirements.
The District maintains about 47,000 feet of sanitary sewer pipe. The collection system has 16 lift stations. Sewer is treated to near drinking water standards in an activated sludge wastewater treatment facility which is followed by membrane filtration and ultraviolet disinfection. The MBR plant was put on line in April 2012. This is the third wastewater treatment plant for the District. The original 1960s rock trickling filter plant was replaced by a plastic media trickling filter plant in 1984. More stringent discharge permits demanded each upgrade. Wastewater collection and treatment facilities, wastewater bio-solids, and effluent disposal are regulated by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Discharge of effluent from the District’s WWTF is authorized by Montana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit No. MT-0020397. The current facility was inspected by the Department of Environmental Quality in November 2023. There were no violations reported. The effluent from the WWTP is discharged to Flathead River/Lake. The bio-solids resulting from treatment are hauled to a District owned farm where they are land applied subsurface. Small grain crops are harvested a year after bio-solids are injected.
