Drinking water quality? (Colorado Springs: utilities, live, legal)

[bontrager]

What are people's opinions on the quality of the municipal drinking water? I am moving to COS at the end of the month and was hoping that the water quality would be excellent seeing that the source is mountain runoff. My wife needs very pure water for health reasons, and was hoping to avoid doing reverse osmosis or bottled water if possible.

[Mike from back east]

Lived there 11 years, best water I ever had, great tasting and always cold since it's snowmelt.

There's an EPA water quality site that will tell you hard science details about the water; same data might also be on the Colorado Springs Utilities website.

[dr.frog]

Water quality FAQ from CSU:

https://www.elpasocountyhealth.org/s...ualityfaqs.pdf

One of the things they don't really come out and say is that adding fluoride to the water is not a consideration here because our water is already naturally fluoridated. More about that here:

https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/health-inf...f-fluoridation

I really can't complain about the water supply here. Once in a while I do notice a chlorine smell but it tastes fine, especially compared to places I've lived where the tap water had a foul sulfur taste.

[bontrager]

Some recent data I came across (April 2021):
https://www.hydroviv.com/blogs/water...0cancer%20risk.

High Levels of Chromium 6 Levels In Colorado Springs Drinking Water
What is Chromium 6? Chromium 6 (also known as the Erin Brockavich chemical) is a highly toxic metal that, while monitored, is not regulated by the EPA. In recent year, Colorado Springs has had very high concentrations of chromium 6 in drinking water. Public heath officials agree that chromium 6 levels above 20 parts per trillion, may have a negligible impact on cancer risk.

[TCHP]

So, Cos has high levels of Chromium 6...and they are what??? Why the statement about 20 parts per trillion having negligible effects but not giving us a figure?

The PFAS in wells on the south-east side of Cos (Widefield, Security area) has been know for some time now and the metro areas down there have taken measures to improve water their quality and are sourcing a percentage from Cos. However, none of Cos metro area's water sources are attached to these wells.

I don't doubt most Hydroviv's data is probably accurate, but they do seem to be playing up items not regulated by the EPA or item that are within legal ranges but have a negative reputation in order to help them sell their filtration systems, which are probably not cheap.

In any case, if your wife needs certain compounds present or absent in her drinking water, I would go to the city utilities site and look at their technical data and water analysis to see what/how they are measure and the concentrations of those measures against the requirements your family doctor is recommending. Then decide if you need additional filtration or fortifying systems.

Overall, water quality here is pretty decent. Even being snowmelt, it can pick up compounds along the way. Generally speaking, its okay. Like Dr. Frog, I do notice particularly high chlorine on occasion but not consistently and it certainly is within safe ranges for consumption.

[bontrager]

Originally Posted by TCHP

So, Cos has high levels of Chromium 6...and they are what??? Why the statement about 20 parts per trillion having negligible effects but not giving us a figure?

The PFAS in wells on the south-east side of Cos (Widefield, Security area) has been know for some time now and the metro areas down there have taken measures to improve water their quality and are sourcing a percentage from Cos. However, none of Cos metro area's water sources are attached to these wells.

I don't doubt most Hydroviv's data is probably accurate, but they do seem to be playing up items not regulated by the EPA or item that are within legal ranges but have a negative reputation in order to help them sell their filtration systems, which are probably not cheap.

In any case, if your wife needs certain compounds present or absent in her drinking water, I would go to the city utilities site and look at their technical data and water analysis to see what/how they are measure and the concentrations of those measures against the requirements your family doctor is recommending. Then decide if you need additional filtration or fortifying systems.

Overall, water quality here is pretty decent. Even being snowmelt, it can pick up compounds along the way. Generally speaking, its okay. Like Dr. Frog, I do notice particularly high chlorine on occasion but not consistently and it certainly is within safe ranges for consumption.

I just cut/pasted the Chromium paragraph from Hydroviv's webpage, but the actual data referenced on their site is listed below, from the 2020 Colorado Springs Utilities Water Quality Report. Important to note that Chromium is not regulated by the EPA.
https://www.csu.org/Documents/2020Wa...lityReport.pdf

I'm not arguing that COS water is bad. I'm just doing my due diligence beyond "it's pretty good," that's all. I can see how a for profit company like Hydroviv may be biased to sell their filters. I just want to take whatever steps I can to minimize risk for my family. A $179 filter isn't too bad compared to a reverse osmosis system.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

I can't speak to the actual quality of the water, but the taste is fantastic. We stopped using filters that I absolutely had to use to drink water back when we lived in Texas.