Water Access and Security: How Spokane, WA Solved These Two Water Challenges with One Smart Solution

Every city eventually runs into the same question: how do you give residents and contractors access to water without putting the water system itself at risk? The City of Spokane, Washington answered that question in stages, starting with a single bulk water filling station and ending up with a citywide water security program built around the same technology.

The Problem: No Good Option for Bulk Water

Before 2021, Spokane residents and contractors who needed water for irrigation, dust control, or other non-potable uses did not have many options. Most relied on personal wells to fill tanks for these purposes. That comes with risk. Pulling large volumes of water from a residential well for bulk needs can run the well dry, leaving a household without water for everyday use.

Contractors ran into a similar problem. Construction sites, landscaping jobs, and other water-intensive work require a reliable water source. Contractors utilized public fire hydrants, leaving the City to manage individual hydrant permits to mitigate damage to City equipment or infrastructure.

2021: Spokane Installs its First Bulk Water Filling Station

In 2021, Spokane purchased its first bulk water filling station and made it available to the public year-round.

Instead of drawing down a private well, residents and contractors could pull up to the station, fill a tank, and pay for what they used.

The response confirmed the City had solved a real problem. Station customers consistently note how easy the station is to use. It has also proven to be a cost-effective alternative to well water: filling a 300-gallon tank costs 30 cents, a fraction of the cost and risk tied to pulling from a private well.

For the City, this was a low-cost, high-impact solution. It solved a daily problem for residents and contractors and demonstrated the value of investing in dedicated bulk water infrastructure.

2022: A Water System Protection Program Changes the Equation

As the bulk water station program took hold, Spokane was also working through a larger, citywide priority: protecting the integrity of its municipal water system.

Fire hydrants are essential for emergency response, but they also represent a vulnerability. Unauthorized or improper hydrant access can introduce contaminants into the water distribution system, a risk that water utilities have worked to close through tighter access controls.

In 2022, Spokane launched a water system protection program to address this. The City added security locks to all 7,500 fire hydrants across Spokane, ensuring hydrants could only be accessed by authorized personnel.

The Solution: Scaling Bulk Water Access

Locking down 7,500 hydrants closed the contamination risk, but it also removed a water access point that some contractors and residents had relied on informally. Spokane needed another way to provide bulk water access without reopening that vulnerability.

The City's answer was to scale up what was already working. Spokane purchased two additional bulk water filling stations, giving the public a secure, sanctioned source for bulk water in place of fire hydrant access.

Rather than treating water system security and public water access as separate problems, Spokane treated them as one. The result: a fully secured hydrant system and three public bulk water stations serving the community's ongoing need for accessible water.

“Our citizens rely on our water system to provide them with clean, safe drinking water on demand every day,” says Loren Searl, Water and Hydroelectric Department Director. “It is an important responsibility to ensure that no contaminants enter the water system through the use of hydrants and other accessible points to the water system.”

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What Other Communities Can Take From This

Spokane's experience is a useful example for other municipalities weighing similar tradeoffs. A few takeaways:

• Bulk water filling stations protect private wells from overuse and depletion.
• They offer a low-cost, transparent alternative for irrigation, dust control, and other non-potable water needs.
• They can reduce reliance on fire hydrants for non-emergency water access, supporting broader water system security efforts.
• The infrastructure scales. Spokane started with one station and expanded to three as demand and priorities changed.

Portalogic: A Partner, Not Just a Manufacturer

Spokane's story is not just about installing hardware. It is about a city identifying a real need, solving it, and then adapting that solution as new priorities came up. That is the kind of partnership Portalogic works to provide.

We do not just manufacture bulk water filling stations. We work with municipalities to understand where the gaps are, whether that is affordable water access for residents and contractors, or protecting infrastructure like fire hydrants from misuse, and help build solutions that scale as those needs change.

Spokane started with one station in 2021. By 2022, that had grown into a three-station network supporting both public access and citywide water system protection, and we continue to support the City today. That is the kind of scalability we plan for in every community conversation: not just what is needed today, but what will be needed as the community grows.

If you are considering a bulk water filling station for your community, we would be glad to talk through what a solution built for your needs, now and down the road, could look like.

Give us a call at (630)499-7080 or email us at portalogic@elemech.com.

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