Since construction of the Artesian well in Five Points in 1875, the Atlanta Water System has grown to over 2,400 miles of water mains, 148,500 active accounts, 21,000 fire hydrants and six wholesale customers over a 650 square mile area. Water service is currently provided to more than a million people daily.

Atlanta withdraws water from Chattahoochee River, the largest stream in the Atlanta Region. The average amount of drinking water consumed is 120 million gallons per day. The Atlanta Water System is operated and maintained through City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management.

Systems the size of Atlanta's must provide data to the State of Georgia from over 1,700 samples collected and analyzed each month by the Bureau of Drinking Water. Annually, Atlanta's Bureau of Drinking Water collects over 12,000 samples of untreated (raw) and treated (finished) water and conducts over 50,000 tests, screening for more than 150 potential contaminants.