Water Distribution

Water System

The City owns and operates a potable water system that includes the 26 miles of water line as well as the 4 reservoirs which serves a population of approximately 6,000 customers through over 2,000 residential and non-residential connections. The City historically served those customers through a combination of ground and surface water sources. For many years, the City operated and maintained its own treatment plant, wells, and supporting distribution system facilities. Due to source of mounting regulatory constraints, resource requirements, and operating cost, the City decided to seek an alternate form of source water through the Medford Water Commission.

The City now receives all of its water from Medford along a Talent, Ashland, and Phoenix intertie known as the TAP transmission main. This 24-inch water transmission main currently provides water to the cities of Talent, Phoenix and supplemental water to the City of Ashland. While the city no longer operates or maintains its own water source, it does maintain a storage and distribution system.

Service Area

The City of Talent's current service area includes the City limits, and several customers that lie within the adjacent unincorporated portion of the county. The customers outside City limits include a small number of connections along Wagner Creek road and properties approximately 1,700 feet north of the northern City boundary along Highway 99. There are no large users of water outside of the City limits nor are there any wholesale purchasers of water. Within the City, the customer base is made up of residential connections with limited commercial and industrial use.

Distribution System

The City's distribution system is made up of approximately 26 miles of 4-inch or larger pipelines. The majority of the City's pipes are 6 and 8 inches in diameter which make up 71% of the total. As road construction takes place, lines are replaced and increased in size where the system requires.

Storage

The City has four storage tanks totaling 5 million gallons of storage - One of which was originally built near the Wagner Creek water treatment plant. Two other tanks are located near Belmont Road and are referred to as Belmont Reservoir #1 and #2. Belmont Reservoir #1. Talent added Rapp Reservoir in 2021. Its the largest tank with 2 million gallons (MG) of storage.