Not long ago I decided to write a piece about Boulder’s water supply to determine where it comes from and why it is so damn tasty. The aim of this blog it to answer once and for all an age-old question about Boulder’s allure, “Is there something in the water?“
Water, as you undoubtedly already know, is a controversial issue in thirsty Western states like Colorado. Yet, very few people actually know where their water supply comes from and how it is prepared for human consumption. As a public service, I decided to tag along with an University of Colorado geology class as they took a tour of Boulder’s Betasso water treatment facility. After hours of struggling to cobble together a mildly entertaining account of what I learned there, I realized that it is not easy to make public utilities exciting. Instead I will present the relevant information in quick, easy to digest bits of information for you to take or leave at your discretion. Our tour guide identified himself only as Randy (or maybe it was John). Most of the information presented in this blog comes from him but can be verified at the City of Boulder’s utility website.
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So it turns out that Boulderites like water, a lot. During the winter months, our usage averages 10 million gallons of water per day. And this, of course, is just a drop in the bucket (pun intended) of our average usage during summer months, which hovers about 28 million gallons per day. In 2009 alone, Boulder treated 6.2 billion gallons of water!
The city of Boulder meets the demand by treating water that comes from a variety of sources. The primary source for drinking water comes from the Silver Lake watershed and Barker Reservoir. These two sources account for the majority of the water the city consumes. The Silver Lake watershed is a protected source perched serenely above Nederland near the Great Divide and includes the Boulder-owned Arapahoe Glacier. The remainder of Boulder’s water comes from the Western Slope and the headwaters of the Colorado River. This water makes quite a journey before finding its way to your coffee pot. It is first piped under the Rocky Mountain National Park and then passes through Estes Park Reservoir. It then flows through Carter Lake before winding its way down to Boulder Reservoir through a network of canals.
There are two treatment plants that serve Boulder Valley, the Betasso Treatment Plant and the Boulder Reservoir Treatment Plant. The Boulder Reservoir treatment plant provides less water to the city than Betasso does because it requires energy to pump water from the plant into town. Conversely, the water from Betasso actually generates energy as it flows downslope, by virtue of the wonderful properties of gravity.
As of 2010, the Betasso Treatment Plant can treat about 60 million gallons of water per day! It does this through a long (and boring) process that involves coagulation, filtering, chlorinating, and adding fluoride. After treatment, the water is sent on down Boulder Canyon to your house. Along the way it, generates approximately 11 megawatts of electricity by turning a series of different turbines. As the water reaches the city, it is regulated by several giant holding tanks that act as capacitors. This buffer allows water to flow constantly without wasting any of it.
Workers remain at the treatment plant 24 hours a day 7 days a week to ensure the safety of the city’s water supply and that the quality of water never deviates from EPA standards. EPA standards, it turns out, are really high. Higher even than the standards used by the FDA to regulate bottled water. City water is probably cleaner and safer because it is not packaged in plastic which can leach BPA’s and other toxins.
As a friendly suggestion, I recommend that every citizen learn about where their water (and food) comes from. It is my belief that there is nothing more personal, more important to understand and regulate, than the things we put in our body. Take a trip to your own local water treatment plant and see for yourself. It is a worthwhile and educational experience –not to mention you get to see a lot of cool industrial pipes and equipment!
