Utilities

The City of McCook Utility Department offers water, sewer, trash, and recycling services.

Water

The McCook Public Water System (license # NE3114504) receives its water from a series of wells located in the Republican River Valley.  The well field consists of 9 wells.  Each well pumps water to the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) which is centrally located to the well field.  The WTP came online in February of 2006 and uses ion-exchange to soften the water to 17 grains of hardness and remove arsenic, nitrate and uranium to suitable levels.  The WTP has a daily capacity of 6.5 million gallons.

McCook produced 785,620,000 gallons of drinking water in 2021.  Averaging 2.1 million gallons per day with the maximum day for 2021 of 4,698,000 gallons occurring on June 15th.

McCook stores treated water in a 4 million gallon clear well located at the Water Treatment Facility.  Water from the clear well is pumped to town by three (3) 250 horsepower, 3,000 gpm centrifugal pumps.  Water is distributed by 53 miles of mains to the City's 3,600 service connections.  Water mains ranging in size from 4-24 inch.

The distribution system is divided into two pressure zones, the low side which averages 45 to 50 psi and a high side averaging 55 to 65 psi.  Each side is served by a one-million-gallon elevated storage tank.

The City of McCook is licensed by the State of Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to operate a Class III Public Water System Permit No. NE3114504. The system is regulated by Title 179 Regulations Governing Public Water Systems in the State of Nebraska.

Wastewater

The City of McCook Wastewater Department operates and maintains 50 miles of collections mains ranging in size from 36 inches to four inches. The system uses both gravity and force mains to collect and send sewage to the Waste Water Treatment Facility, located just southeast of town.

The Treatment Facility was upgraded in 2006 to provide additional ammonia removal, allowing capacity to remain at 1.75 million gallons per day. The plant currently operates at approximately 0.7 million gallons per day. The plant uses clarifiers, rotating biological contactors, and biological aerated filtration to remove impurities from the waste water.

Trash

Municipally owned, the automated refuse collection services, supported by a $22.50 monthly fee, are available to residential customers. Privately owned services are available for commercial and industrial customers; rates are negotiable with the hauler.

If you need assistance in picking up brush or other large items please contact the transfer station for more information:

Transfer Station
1501 Old Highway 6&34
Phone: (308) 345-7049
Fax: (308) 345-5478
Email the Transfer Station

Hours of Operation:
8 a.m. - 3 p.m. Monday-Friday
8 a.m. - 12 p.m. Saturday
Holidays may effect some scheduling

Yard Waste Reduction Program

Yard waste in banned from landfills from April 1st to November 30th of every year. Since yard waste (leaves and grass clippings) are no longer allowed to put into landfills, the City of McCook has setup several yard waste collection sites throughout the city for resident use only. These sites contain large green 600 gallon dumpsters to allow the Sanitation Department faster cleanup of these sites. We ask that no plastic bags be thrown into the yard waste dumpsters as this product is gathered and composted, which is also available to the public for no charge.

Yard Waste Collection Sites

The yard waste collection sites have large green 600 gallon dumpsters. Only leaves and grass clippings are to be placed in these containers. We ask that you not put plastic bags in the containers.