5 Surprising Eau Claire equations

Tom Giffey |

There's a special magic to the mathematical equations that rule our universe. And make no mistake – that math scales down to little ol' Eau Claire. So here's a handful of equations that rule our local life.

1. Water Mains > Streets

There are an impressive 392 miles of water mains in Eau Claire, according to the city’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, a thick compilation of city stats. Laid end-to-end, the water mains could Slip ’N Slide you almost to Kansas City, Mo. By comparison, there are 344.6 miles of streets – enough to get you to Omaha.

2. Fire Trucks + Ambulances

If you live near a fire station or are the parent of an emergency-vehicle obsessed toddler, it may seem like fire trucks are everywhere. Not so: There are 10 firefighting vehicles and six ambulances in the city. Combined, that’s fewer than the 19 unmarked cars the police department maintains. So watch out bad boys – it’s the sirens you don’t hear that are gonna come for you.

3. (HTI – Silver Spring) x 2.1 = Nestle

It’s not surprising that big industrial plants are the city’s largest water customers. At its two plants in Eau Claire, Nestle slurped up 246 million gallons last year – or nearly twice as much at the No. 2 user, Hutchinson Technology Inc., which used 135 million gallons. For the record, Silver Spring used 17 million gallons, enough to wash away plenty of horseradish-induced tears.

4. City + UWEC + UnitedHealth = Mayo

Mayo Clinic Health System is by far the largest employer in Eau Claire (and among the biggest in this part of the state). Its 3,540 employees are roughly equal to the number of workers at the city of Eau Claire (522), UW-Eau Claire (1,387), and UnitedHealth Group (1,590) combined!

5. Population – Pool Attendance = EMS Calls

OK, this is a pretty goofy equation, but stick with us: If you take Eau Claire’s estimated population (66,580) and subtract last year’s attendance at the city pool (60,345), the result is surprisingly close to the number of emergency medical calls in 2013 (6,480). This doesn’t exactly mean that swimming laps at Fairfax will keep the ambulance at bay – but it wouldn’t hurt, right?