New Brighton Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

New Brighton, Minnesota, in Ramsey County north of Minneapolis and adjacent to Arden Hills and Mounds View — a north Ramsey County suburb home to the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP) Superfund cleanup area, now the Rice Creek Commons development — receives its municipal water from St. Paul Regional Water Services (SPRWS) or the New Brighton Utilities drawing from the regional Twin Cities water supply system. New Brighton's connection to SPRWS ties it to the Mississippi River-based metropolitan supply.

The moderately hard 106 mg/L hardness and TDS of 177.5 mg/L reflect the Mississippi River's moderate carbonate character in the Twin Cities metropolitan reach. The Mississippi River at the SPRWS intake draws basin drainage from the Ordovician Prairie du Chien Dolomite and Jordan Sandstone aquifer complex of southeastern Minnesota — ancient Ordovician marine carbonate and sandstone formations that sustain consistent spring-fed baseflow with moderate carbonate content. The Pleistocene glacial till covering the Twin Cities basin adds carbonate-rich inputs from reworked limestone gravels and glaciolacustrine deposits, contributing to the moderately hard finished water delivered to New Brighton.

At 106 mg/L, New Brighton's water is moderately hard — a typical Twin Cities north metro supply profile. Scale builds in kettles and coffee machines over months, the dishwasher benefits from rinse aid, and faucet aerators need periodic cleaning. Quarterly descaling of heating appliances is the standard schedule. The PFAS level of 3.6 ppt is moderate-to-favorable for Ramsey County — while the adjacent Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP) is a major Superfund site with historic PFAS contamination in New Brighton's groundwater, the SPRWS Mississippi River surface water supply is less directly impacted by the TCAAP plume than local groundwater wells.