Why Your Hastings Water Bill Is Going Up

TLDR

• Hastings is building three water treatment plants to strip a forever chemical out of five city wells.
• The city's figures put the three-plant total around $70.3 million.
• Water rates went up 10% in January 2025, with more increases planned.
• About $23.3 million in outside funding is lined up. The rest lands on ratepayers unless that changes.
• The city sued 3M in August 2026 to try to recover the cost.

If your Hastings water bill has gone up and you weren't sure why, here's the short version: the city is building three water treatment plants, they cost about $70.3 million, and there isn't enough outside money to cover it.

Here's where that number comes from and what it's actually paying for.

What's Being Built

Five Hastings drinking water wells — 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 — have PFOA in them above the federal limit. PFOA is a "forever chemical" that doesn't break down. In April 2024 the EPA set an enforceable limit of 4 parts per trillion in drinking water, and in May 2025 the federal government confirmed it was keeping that limit.

That word "enforceable" is doing a lot of work. It's not a guideline the city can weigh against its budget. Over the limit means treat the water, full stop.

So Hastings is building three plants:

• Central plant — 1290 North Frontage Road, serving wells 3 and 7. Construction started September 2025 and it's the only one underway.
• Eastern plant — serving wells 6 and 8. Not started.
• Western plant — serving well 4 and a planned new well 9. Not started.

All three use granular activated carbon. Picture an enormous charcoal filter: water flows through, the carbon grabs the chemical, cleaner water comes out. It works well. It's just expensive, and the carbon has to be replaced on a schedule, forever. That last part matters — this isn't a one-time construction cost, it's a permanent line item.

The Money

The city's PFAS treatment plans page puts all three plants at roughly $70.3 million to build, with the central plant alone around $27.7 million.

Against that, Hastings has lined up about $23.3 million in outside funding. The biggest single piece is $13.7 million from the earlier 3M settlement, tied specifically to Well #5. The city has also asked the state for bonding money — about $18.3 million for the eastern plant and $20.7 million for the western one.

Do the math and there's a gap. That gap is your water bill.

What It's Done to Rates So Far

Hastings raised water rates 10% in January 2025, with a chunk of that going directly toward PFAS treatment. More increases have been planned since. The Star Tribune reported the city hiked rates specifically because 3M settlement funds fell short of covering the work.

For a city of about 23,000 people with more than 7,500 water customers, a $70 million utility project is enormous. And it lands on top of everything else Hastings is trying to fund, like the $30-40 million Highway 61 overhaul and the pressure from a 1,500-unit housing gap. Every dollar going to carbon filters is a dollar not going somewhere else.

The Lawsuit Is the City's Attempt to Shift the Bill

On August 26, 2026, Hastings sued 3M in Dakota County District Court, claiming the company's Cottage Grove plant released PFOA into the air for decades and contaminated the city's wells. The complaint asks 3M to cover investigation, testing, alternate water supply, building the plants, wellhead treatment and its ongoing operation, plus interest and attorney fees.

3M denies causing the contamination and called the lawsuit "unfortunate," pointing to $850 million it committed in Minnesota in 2018 and $10.3 billion committed nationally in 2024. The company's response is due in court September 16, 2026.

Here's the full breakdown of the lawsuit and what it claims →

Worth being clear about the timing: even if Hastings wins, that's years away. The plants get built regardless, because the federal limit doesn't wait for a verdict.

The Bottom Line

Two things actually move your water bill in the near term, and neither is the lawsuit.

First, the state bonding requests. If the legislature funds the eastern and western plants, that's roughly $39 million that doesn't have to come from ratepayers. That's the single biggest lever, and it gets decided on the legislature's calendar, not the court's.

Second, how fast the remaining plants get built. Costs don't shrink by waiting.

The city posts construction and funding updates on its PFAS updates page, and its PFAS FAQ is the right place for water safety questions. There's more Hastings coverage on the north Hastings development proposal.