Without the Catawba River, deemed one of America's Most Endangered Rivers in 2008, there would be no Charlotte. Its water is what pours from your faucets, which is why it's important to protect and preserve its quality for the health of current residents and businesses, and for future generations. Plus, the cleaner we keep the river and its lakes, the less we'll have to pay to clean our drinking water. Today, Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities is expanding its largest, and currently empty, drinking water reservoir — and has been for some time. So, the water it sucks from Mountain Island Lake (one of the Catawba's 11 lakes) is less processed than you might imagine. It's also important to know that the utility draws water from the lake downstream from a county-operated wastewater treatment plant and two unlined, high-hazard coal ash ponds, and that the government's water treatment processes don't filter out substances like pharmaceuticals.