Butte Marks Opening of $30M Water Treatment Plant

State and local officials say a new $30 million water treatment plant means Butte will have some of the cleanest drinking water in the nation.

The Montana Standard reports (http://bit.ly/2pSte5m ) the Basin Creek Water Treatment Plant south of the city will treat water using a ceramic-membrane filter system.

Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive Dave Palmer, speaking at a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, says there's no reason for Butte residents to buy bottled water anymore.

For decades, water from the reservoir was so pristine a little chlorine was added but no filtering was needed to make it safe to drink. Federal and state regulators determined the filtering was needed in 2011.

The plant was funded by state and local natural resource damage funds.