The Berkeley Pit contains water with very high concentrations of copper, cadmium, cobalt, iron, magnesium, zinc, and arsenic, all associated with minerals in the underground mines and the pit, and the water has a pH of about 2.5, making it about as acidic as cola or vinegar, while 7.0 is neutral. Despite the metals and acid, the pit water supports life, including the water boatman, and in 2000 students and professors from Montana Tech discovered a new algae that appears to digest iron for survival. To meet EPA requirements, a treatment plant was built on the east side of the pit to treat up to seven million gallons per day, or about 5,000 gallons per minute, beginning with about three million gallons per day of mostly surface water flowing into the pit and groundwater entering the Continental Pit to the east, and eventually treating Berkeley Pit water when the water level approaches 5,410 feet above sea level in 2018. The fully automated facility generates 90 percent less sludge than a conventional lime treatment plant, discharges clean water into Silver Bow Creek, is designed to operate forever, and, as long as the pit water remains below the 5,410-foot level, is expected to prevent further harm to groundwater sources.