How Auburn, Nebraska Turned a Muddy Creek into a Reliable Water Source During Drought
Mobile Water Treatment Helps Community Restore Water Supply Resilience
After five years of severe drought, Auburn, Nebraska needed water fast.
Strict Stage 3 water restrictions prevented the town’s nearly 3,500 residents from watering lawns and gardens, washing cars, or topping off swimming pools. With new wells proving costly and impractical, Auburn was forced to look beyond its groundwater supply for a solution.
Despite the drought, on the north side of town, spring-fed Longs Creek continued to flow. The problem: its water looked more like tea than drinking water, muddy, murky, and full of suspended solids. The challenge wasn’t finding water. It was making it usable. Auburn needed a way to quickly transform the creek into a reliable water source. That’s when the Auburn Board of Public Works turned to Vessco Inc. to help identify and deploy a treatment solution capable of turning muddy creek water into crystal-clear drinking water.
Working with the Auburn Board of Public Works and WesTech Engineering, Vessco Inc. helped deploy a mobile RapiSand™ ballasted floc clarification system that transformed muddy water from Longs Creek into a dependable supplemental water source. The project helped strengthen Auburn’s water security, reduce pressure on stressed groundwater resources, and support the community’s recovery from severe drought restrictions.
“What made the WesTech mobile RapiSand clarification system such a good fit for Auburn was its ability to be deployed quickly and treat a very challenging water source,” said Eric Lawrence, Vessco Inc. Sales Engineer. “Longs Creek had plenty of water, even during the drought, but it was highly turbid and needed significant treatment before it could be used.”
“Instead of putting more pressure on already stressed groundwater supplies, Auburn was able to utilize a local surface water source that had always been there,” Lawrence continued. “The mobile system gave the city a reliable supplemental water supply while improving its long-term drought resilience and protecting its groundwater resources. This project is a great example of how communities can adapt to changing water conditions”
Project Highlights
Customer
Auburn Board of Public Works (BPW)
Challenge
Declining groundwater production and Stage 3 drought restrictions
Solution
WesTech Mobile RapiSand Clarification System supplied through Vessco Inc.
Water Source
Longs Creek, Auburn, Nebraska
Key Benefits
✔ Supplemental drought-resilient water supply
✔ Reduced dependence on groundwater wells
✔ Rapid deployment compared to permanent infrastructure
✔ Improved water system resiliency
✔ Enhanced community quality of life
✔ Sustainable use of local water resources
The Challenge: When Drought Changes Daily Life
For Auburn residents, drought wasn’t just an environmental issue, it affected everyday life.
As groundwater supplies declined, the city implemented strict Stage 3 water restrictions to protect its water system.
In an interview with Nebraska Public Media, Auburn Water Manager Alan Slater said the restrictions took a real toll on residents, forcing them to give up many of life’s simple pleasures.
“When you tell your community that, ‘Hey, we’re in a water crisis and we’re in a stage three water watch, and you can’t water your yard, you can’t water your garden, and no washing of your cars, the only thing is just essential uses,’ it brings hardship and very much so,” Slater noted. Read full story here.
At the utility level, the challenge was even greater. Existing groundwater sources were under increasing stress, and efforts to identify new well capacity offered limited potential.
“We weren’t able to really get enough water feasible for a well to put millions of dollars, or a million dollars into a well and only get 60 gallons a minute,” Slater told Nebraska Public Media.
City leaders identified Longs Creek as a promising alternative. Even during dry periods, the creek maintained a flow of 450 gallons per minute and offered the potential to provide a 1,000 GPM water source for the community.
There was one major obstacle.
The creek water was highly turbid, carrying suspended solids that often gave it a muddy brown appearance. Before it could be used as part of Auburn’s drinking water supply, the water would need significant treatment.
The Solution: Mobile Surface Water Treatment
To help Auburn access this new water source, Vessco worked with municipal stakeholders and WesTech Engineering to deploy a mobile RapiSand clarification system designed specifically for temporary and emergency water treatment applications.
The system receives raw water pumped from Longs Creek and processes it through multiple treatment stages, including coagulation, flocculation, and sedimentation.
The transformation is dramatic.
Water entering the treatment system appears murky and brown. Water leaving the filtration process is clear, clean, and suitable for integration into Auburn’s existing treatment infrastructure.
Rather than waiting years for new permanent facilities, Auburn gained access to a flexible treatment solution that could be deployed quickly and adapted to changing conditions.
For utility managers and engineers, the project demonstrates how mobile treatment technologies can provide a practical bridge between immediate operational needs and long-term infrastructure planning.
Results: More Than Additional Water Supply
The Longs Creek project delivered more than gallons per minute.
It provided Auburn with a new level of water supply resilience during one of the most challenging drought periods in recent memory.
By supplementing groundwater production with treated surface water, the city gained greater operational flexibility while reducing pressure on existing wells. The project also helped support the easing of severe water restrictions.
For the community, that meant getting back to the simple pleasures of summer – kids running through sprinklers, bare feet on green grass, washing the car in the driveway, tending backyard gardens, and taking a dip in the pool on a hot Nebraska afternoon.
For utility leaders, it meant increased confidence that Auburn had a reliable plan for managing future drought conditions.
Perhaps most importantly, the project proved that a murky creek could become a valuable component of the city’s long-term water strategy.
ESG Impact: Building Sustainable Water Resilience
Environmental Stewardship
The project helped Auburn diversify its water portfolio and reduce reliance on stressed groundwater resources. By utilizing a local surface water source, the city demonstrated a more sustainable approach to water management during prolonged drought conditions.
Social Impact
Reliable access to water directly affects quality of life. The project helped support the community’s ability to move beyond severe drought restrictions while maintaining safe and dependable drinking water service.
Governance and Resilience
The collaboration between Auburn BPW, Vessco, and WesTech highlights the value of proactive infrastructure planning and innovative problem-solving. The project provided a scalable, practical solution that strengthened the city’s ability to respond to future water supply challenges.
Why Utilities Are Looking at Mobile Water Treatment
Auburn’s challenge isn’t unique. Across North America, water utilities are facing increasing challenges from drought, aging infrastructure, population growth, and changing weather patterns. Many are looking for ways to access new water sources without waiting years for permanent infrastructure projects.
Mobile treatment systems offer a flexible option for communities that need:
- Emergency water treatment capacity
- Supplemental water supply during drought
- Temporary treatment during infrastructure upgrades
- Pilot-scale evaluation of new water sources
- Rapid response to changing water quality conditions
The Auburn project demonstrates how mobile filtration technology can help utilities quickly convert alternative water sources into reliable assets while maintaining operational flexibility.
The Vessco Difference
At Vessco Inc., we help utilities solve complex water challenges by connecting communities with proven treatment technologies and experienced technical support.
For Auburn, that meant helping transform a muddy creek into a dependable source of clean water.
For other communities facing drought and water supply uncertainty, it offers a reminder that resilience isn’t always about finding new water. Sometimes it’s about finding new ways to use the water you already have.Innovative treatment solutions can help communities build resilience today while planning for tomorrow.
Find Out More
Vessco Inc. Minnesota: 952-941-2678
Vessco Inc. Iowa: 515-233-8599
info@vessco.com