Drinking from the Tap: Tokyo’s High-Quality Water Supply

Misono Treatment Plant head Hashimoto Takashi (left) and purification facility manager Ogasahara Atsushi.

The ozone generator (left) is large enough for an adult to stand upright in, and (right) a window showing the inner workings of the ozone chamber.

A window in a filtration pond shows the bottom layer of biological activated carbon.

(Clockwise from upper left) Sloped sedimentation basins efficiently remove suspended solids from raw water. Solar panels cover sand filtration ponds that are the last step in advanced water treatment. Settling basins and other facilities for industrial water treatment at the Misono plant.

A row of pumps at the Misono plant. Similar pumping stations are located at strategic points to keep water pressure at a constant level throughout the metropolitan area.

Tokyo offers bottles of tap water that show the treatment plant they come from.