Big Springs Water Source & Treatment Plant

Big Springs is located approximately 2 miles south of Elizabethton on Gap Creek Road, and became a part of the City's water system in 1981 as a major component of Elizabethton's Comprehensive Water Plan. A well known spring that had been utilized for a private trout hatchery, the facility was re-purposed as a retention basin to catch the backwash from the newly constructed treatment plant. Completed in 1983, Big Springs uses two 10' x 37' horizontal pressure filters that force the water through a variety of media to remove any impurities. A state certified lab was also built at the site to allow the city to conduct its own testing of water samples system wide. 
Because Big Springs is influenced by drought, the source was protected from surface runoff by installing a  concrete enclosure.  The site has an average yield of approximately 1,600 gallons per minute or approximately 1.5 million gallons per day and supplies 24% of the water for the City of Elizabethton. Big Springs primarily serves the Milligan & Central area and has an elevation of 1,600 feet.