Water
The City of Lake Oswego operates and maintains a Water Treatment Plant in West Linn, as well as a distribution system, a water conservation program, and a cross connection control program.
Water plays a vital role in everyone’s life. The Water Department’s mission is to bring healthy drinking water of the highest quality to Lake Oswego’s residential and wholesale customers from our intake facility on the Clackamas River in Gladstone, all the way to your tap.
Interested in learning more about your drinking water? Every drop begins in the Clackamas River — one of Oregon's most pristine water sources.
Discover where your water comes from by signing up to one of our water treatment plant tours! It's a great opportunity to see the process firsthand, meet the team, and deepen your connection to the water you rely on every day.
Tours are held about once a month between spring and summer, take approximately 1 ½ hours and are limited to 15 people per tour.
Clean drinking water is an essential resource we rely on every day. Providing residents and businesses in Lake Oswego with safe, dependable, high-quality water is our top priority.
Lake Oswego’s tap water meets or exceeds every State and Federal standard for safe drinking water. Get to know your drinking water by reviewing the latest 2026 Water Quality Report.
Questions about drinking water, water treatment, water distribution, or water quality? Check out our comprehensive Water FAQs!
Over the past five years, the City has been replacing outdated, manually-read water meters to a new, wirelessly-read technology. These smart meters support efficiencies in our water system and improve customer service.
As of spring 2025, 99% of the 12,630 meters city-wide have been replaced. The majority of these are residential meters, with about 300 accounting for commercial meters. All new smart meters are expected to be installed and in service by end of 2025.
The Lake Oswego Tigard Water Treatment Plant produces high quality drinking water for more than 100,000 customers every day. Lake Oswego's drinking water is made clean and safe using a state-of-the-art treatment process known as conventional filtration, plus ozone. Take a look inside the heart of the water treatment process.
Some home systems—like irrigation, hot tubs, pools, or private wells—can accidentally allow water to flow the wrong way and mix with our drinking water supply. This is called “backflow,” and it can cause contamination. To help keep our drinking water safe, homes and businesses with these types of connections are required to have a backflow prevention device installed. This device must be tested once a year by a certified tester.
In Lake Oswego, backflow testing is due by July 15.
Lake Oswego's drinking water originates in the Clackamas River watershed.
New to town and need to start your Utility Services? Or just have a question about your Utility Bill, water service, leaks, or consumption information, the Utility Bill Information page has links to everything that you will need to start, stop, understand and find out more about your Utility Bill and Services.