Although the University of Oklahoma and the city of Norman each act as their own community in many ways, they share one of life’s essentials: drinking water.

Water may seem like a simple subject, but how it gets from a ground source to your refrigerator door or shower is more complex than just a quick flush of the toilet.

Click here to view where Norman water comes from.

For years, the University of Oklahoma and the city of Norman each had their own way of supplying water to their customers with private wells and water treatment facilities around Norman. In the mid-1960s, federal officials joined with the cities of Norman, Midwest City and Del City and built Lake Thunderbird, a large water supply reservoir on Norman’s eastern edge.

Earlier this decade, changes were made to the Environmental Protection Act’s drinking water regulations and rules. Those changes affected most of the University’s water wells in terms of the level of arsenic allowed in drinking water. The rules forced major changes in how OU receives a large portion of its water, according to the city of Norman’s executive summary background on arsenic and groundwater rules on the city’s Web site. The rule lowered the arsenic standard from 50 micrograms per liter to 10 micrograms per liter, said Chris Mattingly, city of Norman utilities superintendent.

“OU decided it would be more efficient to buy water from the city than to make the appropriate renovations to the wells,” Mattingly said.

The city of Norman has three sources for fresh water. Most of the city’s water, 80 percent, comes from Lake Thunderbird. Nineteen percent comes from 20 wells mostly in the North East part of Norman, and one percent comes from Oklahoma City on an emergency need basis, Mattingly said.

“Through those three sources of water, the city of Norman uses up to 23 million gallons of water per day to service around 93 to 95 thousand people in the community, including the university,” Mattingly said.

In 2005, Norman contracted with OU to supply up to one million gallons of water per day for non-irrigation purposes, said Ken Komiske, Norman’s director of utilities.

“The contract for OU is an ongoing contract and has been since 2005,” Komiske said. “It will continue unless either party gives 90 days notice to cancel that contract.”

The University uses a completely different water system for non-drinking water, Amanda Hearn, of OU Physical Plant communication said.

“OU uses non-potable water, or non-drinking water, for irrigation (landscaping) and process purposes,” Hearn stated in an e-mail. “Non-drinking water, or landscaping and system process water, comes from Garber Wellington aquifers and the Canadian river alluvial deposits.”

Recently, the Norman City Council approved a contract for more updates to be done to the water treatment center in Norman.

Earlier this summer, city councilmembers turned down a proposal by the town of Goldsby in neighboring McClain County to supply water to them, according to the Norman City Council’s June 9 meeting minutes.

Information Box: Your water by the numbers:

-80% of Norman water comes from Lake Thunderbird

-19% comes from the city’s 20 wells

-1% comes from Oklahoma City’s Lake Draper on an emergency need basis

-23 million gallons of water are used each day in Norman (excluding private wells)

-600,000 gallons of water are used each day by OU, excluding irrigation

-93-95 thousand people are provided water through the city of Norman

-In 2005, OU signed a contract with the City of Norman to receive water through the city of Norman’s water system