Drinking Water Update (March 5, 2022)

Hi everyone – I wanted to provide an overview and update on the status of our drinking water here in Superior.

What happened?

Our Town’s drinking water is supplied by Northern Water — and generally comes from snow melt that collects n the Upper Colorado River Basin in Lake Granby and Grand Lake as part of Northern Water’s Big Thompson Project.  After traveling through a network of pipelines, our water is stored in the Superior Terminal Reservoir (red arrow pointing to it below), which is located west of McCaslin Blvd. next to the Ridge Neighborhood.

During the Marshall Fire, our drinking water treatment plant was damaged.  A backup generator was destroyed and due to the demands on the system from the fire fighting efforts, we lost pressure and introduced contaminants into the system.  That lead to the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (CDPHE) instituting a boil-water advisory for a number of days following the fire.  Afterwards, our Public Works Department worked with CDPHE to restore service and treat the water so that it would be safe to drink–free of pathogens or bacteria which would pose a threat to public health.  After testing, CDPHE confirmed that the water was safe to drink and lifted the boil water advisory.

Despite the fact that CDPHE has confirmed that our water is safe to drink, many residents have complained of a smoky/ashy smell and taste in their water.  The Town has been working diligently to address this issue, but the problem persists.

What has been done so far?

In the beginning of February, the Town began diverting our drinking water supply and bypassing the Terminal Reservoir and instead, began taking our water supply directly from the Northern Water pipeline.  We were able to run this bypass for about two weeks, but then Northern Water needed to shut down the supply pipeline for maintenance.  During the period of time that we were running the bypass, our water quality improved and the smoky/ashy taste and smell went away.  Not surprisingly, when Northern Water shut down the pipeline and we had to start taking water from the Terminal Reservoir again, residents started complaining about the smell/taste of the water again.

With the knowledge of the problem at the reservoir, the Town has implemented a number of potential solutions.

The Town Board approved a contract with a company who is vacuuming the banks of the reservoir to remove ash that is sitting on the shores of the reservoir.  There is about 2 feet of ash — it’s almost as if we just had a blizzard with 2 feet of snow sitting up around the reservoir, but instead of snow, it’s ash.   And that ash continues to blow into the reservoir.  So, this contractor is removing that ash and that process will take about a month.

In addition, Public Works has implemented a chlorine dioxide treatment system at the reservoir.  Chlorine dioxide can be used as a water treatment to break down compounds that cause taste and odor issues.  However, since this has been implemented, we’ve received a number of complaints from residents who have reported skin issues/rashes after bathing.  So, the Town has now ceased further chlorine dioxide treatments.

We are also working on installing a power activated carbon system.  Because these types of filtration systems are expensive and take significant time to source/install, the Town is working on a temporary carbon filter installation that should be in place within the coming month.  Public Works expects that the carbon filtration system will address the taste/smell issues that residents are facing.  We will then work on a permanent carbon filtration system that will be installed over the next 6 months.  The Town Board will seek grants to help offset the costs associated with the installation of these treatment options, which are expected to cost more than $1 million.

Why can’t we just use the bypass?

In addition to the fact that Northern Water periodically shuts down the supply of water so they can perform maintenance to their pipeline, Public Works has told the Town Board that there are issues that arise from using water directly from the pipeline.  Our water treatment plant is a complex operation that has various fail-safe alarms that can be tripped at any given time if certain things happen.  One of those alarms is tripped when the pH fluctuates beyond certain levels.  In general, a water with a pH < 7 is considered acidic and with a pH > 7 is considered basic. The normal range for pH in surface water systems is 6.5 to 8.5 and for groundwater systems 6 to 8.5.  However, some of the water we receive from Northern Water has a pH of 6.0, but then the next day, could have a pH of more than 8.0.  This apparently causes issues with the water system.

More practically, during the summer irrigation system, we can’t take enough water from the Northern Water pipeline to satisfy all the demand on our water utility.  With everyone watering their lawns, we need water from the Terminal Reservoir to meet the demand.

What other options are we considering?

The Town of Superior’s water system has an interlink with Louisville’s water system — and actually, Louisville activated this interlink during the Marshall Fire when the power went out and our water treatment backup generator was destroyed.  This provided additional water/pressure for fire fighters who were fighting the Marshall Fire.  I’m grateful that Louisville did this to help us out during the fire.  Going forward, we’re looking into potentially drawing from Louisville’s system to supply some of our water.  Louisville’s system, however, can’t supply enough water for our daily use — so while this could be a potentially partial fix, it won’t be a complete fix to our daily water needs.

The Town is also looking into dredging the Terminal Reservoir.  But before we do so, we need to reduce the water levels in the reservoir to allow a dredger to work in the reservoir.  To do so, we’re going to drain the reservoir and fill the various ponds that are located throughout Rock Creek.  We do this every year as those ponds supply our re-use water system which is used to water the parks/green spaces that are maintained by the Town.  As the irrigation system starts, we’ll flush most of the water that is currently in the reservoir and replace it with fresh water from Northern Water that wasn’t impacted by ash from the Marshall Fire.  Dredging, however, will take many months and will be significantly expensive.  But, we’re keeping all options on the table.

What is the status of our drinking water?

According to CDPHE, our water remains safe to drink, however, I can certainly understand why residents are not comfortable drinking it.  The Town continues to supply free bottled/boxed drinking water at the Superior Community Center (at 1500 Coalton Road).  The water is located in the “Spot” — which is the teen space on the side of the building.  The Community Center is open Monday -Thursday (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.); Friday – Saturday (8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.); and Sunday (12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.).

Please know that the Town Board and Town Staff are committed to finding a solution to our drinking water and will do whatever it takes to ensure that our water is safe and meets the expectations of our residents.