do you drink the Colorado Springs tap water? (buy, best)

[TCHP]

Overall water quality for Cos proper is pretty good for drinking straight out of the tap. If your faucet has an aerator on it, there really isn't much reason to let it breathe, but sometimes that may vary based on personal preference.

I do agree with Miss Hepburn that on occasions Cos water is noticeably chlorinated. Even as an in town resident I can sometimes notice this. It was more obvious to me more often when my in-laws were living in Crystal Park, who have really good water, but it still pretty good most days.

There are some outlying areas that are part of different districts that may get water from different sources that will have some variations in quality.

[MTransplant]

<<<chryptosporidium was a common one...goes to the liver.>>>>

The correct name is cryptosporidium parvum or hominis, these species do not go to the liver. It is a water-borne parasite causing self-limiting in healthy individuals, watery diarrhea. Typically you see some outbreaks in a summer time when people are swimming in public pools.Go to CDC website https://www.cdc.gov/dpdx/cryptosporidiosis/index.html.

Colorado Springs water never has cryptosporidium detected and it is safe to drink.

[haggardhouseelf]

One of my relatives moved to Colorado Springs and I knew nothing about it, so I started reading about the area. One thing I ran across was that the water in that area is contaminated with chemicals the firefighters use - from the firefighting foam. This article is a year old but it talks about it: https://gazette.com/nowall/blood-tes...5412b01bc.html

I think if I lived there I would definitely not drink the tap water just to be safe. If it's not something they are looking for or that the EPA regulates, it could certainly be in the water and everybody's none the wiser. Would be interesting to have those blood tests done and see what is found in the blood that they weren't looking for when they were testing the water.

[TCHP]

It is very important to understand what water district you live in to know whether issues such as those pointed out in the article you referenced will impact you where you live. The contamination referenced in that article was not city wide and was isolated to a relatively small area that was using well water. The majority of water for Cos proper comes from the mountains west and far west of the city.

The water provided by Colo Spgs Utilities, Cherokee Water, Colorado Centre Metro districts was not impacted by the foam used at Peterson AFB, but the Widefield water district was impacted. There also have been alternate sources implemented for the Widefield District that have allowed them access to the Colo Spgs district water lines that originate from the Arkansas River. However, I do not know if that is district wide for or just certain areas.

[otowi]

I believe that the areas affected by the fire fighting foam were the Security Water District, Fountain Utilities and Widefield Water District as well as a few private well owners in the area. It has since been mitigated but in different ways. Security Water District has switched to the Southern Delivery System - which they had bought in rights to earlier but were not using yet. Widefield and Fountain I think invested in expensive special filtration equipment. There might be some well owners where the problem is not fully solved - for example, I am not sure of the status of Venetucci Farm, which has not grown or sold crops since this happened.

[coschristi]

I’ve drank it for the last 47 of my 51 years. When I was little, I never understood why company from out of town would always comment on how good the water tastes ... until the first time I was old enough to be aware of how the water tasted from elsewhere!

Before, I had always thought; “Water has a taste?”

A little history about our water: https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/health-inf...f-fluoridation

A map of neighborhood fluoride levels: https://www.csu.org/CSUDocuments/factsaboutfluoride.pdf

We also drank a lot of natural spring water; my parents used to take us to this spring at the base of Pikes Peak with big jugs to fill. I just remember a winding road up in the mountains that led to a little gazebo.

[otowi]

Originally Posted by coschristi

We also drank a lot of natural spring water; my parents used to take us to this spring at the base of Pikes Peak with big jugs to fill. I just remember a winding road up in the mountains that led to a little gazebo.

The particular one you might be thinking of I am not sure is open currently, but there are still several springs in Manitou where you can do that. My grandparents used to fill jugs and use it to make lemonade. Here's a walking map to get to them - http://manitoumineralsprings.org/pdf...re_Outside.pdf

[TCHP]

Originally Posted by coschristi

I’ve drank it for the last 47 of my 51 years. When I was little, I never understood why company from out of town would always comment on how good the water tastes ... until the first time I was old enough to be aware of how the water tasted from elsewhere!

Before, I had always thought; “Water has a taste?”

A little history about our water: https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/health-inf...f-fluoridation

A map of neighborhood fluoride levels: https://www.csu.org/CSUDocuments/factsaboutfluoride.pdf

We also drank a lot of natural spring water; my parents used to take us to this spring at the base of Pikes Peak with big jugs to fill. I just remember a winding road up in the mountains that led to a little gazebo.

I grew up thinking the same thing and didn't know any better until a visit to central Kansas to stay with my step mother's family when I was 9 or 10. Then the difference in water became hugely obvious to me.

I also remember being younger when you could not easily find Manitou mineral water because most of the springs were boarded up as they needed repairs. When they decided to revitilize and reopen them in the 90s, I thought it was great. Now they are all over the little town.

[Educator1982]

Yes! With an attached small chlorine filter. It tastes good in my opinion here.

[JackieLovesSun]

It is very important to understand what water district you live in to know whether issues such as those pointed out in the article you referenced will impact you where you live. The contamination referenced in that article was not city wide and was isolated to a relatively small area that was using well water. The majority of water for Cos proper comes from the mountains west and far west of the city.

thank you for the info, @TCHP



I let the tap water "breathe" to let chlorine evaporate which I thought happened in approx 12 to 24 hours.

I googled it, however, and am told it depends on if the city is using "free chlorine" or adding chloramine so I'd like to find out which they use here.