PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. --
Colorado
Springs Utilities (CSU) supplies drinking water to Peterson AFB. Base personnel can get the facts about the
water they drink from the recently released CSU - 2016 Water Quality Report. This report (reporting period 1 Jan – 31 Dec 15)
informs the public about the water quality and services CSU delivers to the
base every day.
CSU staff, as well as the 21st
Medical Group’s Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight, test the water consumed
throughout the base. Throughout the
process of collection, treatment and distribution, certified water treatment
plant operators and laboratory staff monitor the water quality for its chemical
and biological content. Some of these
analyses are required to meet state and federal standards, while others are
part of ongoing testing to assure a continual supply of high quality drinking
water. CSU employees test the water at treatment
plants and throughout the CSU water distribution system.
Bioenvironmental Engineering tests water at ten
different sampling locations per month for microbiological contamination that
could occur in the Peterson section of the distribution system. The Peterson sample
sites include the dining facility, Base Exchange food court, aircraft watering
points, and the child development centers. All microbiological samples collected in 2015
were analyzed by El Paso County Public Health laboratory and reported safe.
With no major source of water
nearby, CSU relies on a raw water collection system that delivers water to
Colorado Springs from nearly 200 miles away. The headwaters, or sources, that
supply these systems originate in wilderness areas near Aspen, Leadville, and
Breckenridge. Nearly 75% of our water originates from many mountain streams (surface
water). Water from these streams is collected and stored in various reservoirs
along the Continental Divide. The collection systems in this area consist of
the Homestake, Fryingpan-Arkansas, Twin Lakes, and Blue River systems. The
majority of this water is transferred to Colorado Springs through pipelines
that help to protect the water from contamination, such as, herbicides,
pesticides, heavy metals and other chemicals. Water delivered to Colorado
Springs is stored at Rampart Reservoir and at the Catamount reservoirs on Pikes
Peak which then supply CSU water treatment plants.
CSU also uses local surface water
sources from the north and south slopes of Pikes Peak, North and South Cheyenne
Creeks, Fountain Creek, Monument Creek/Pikeview Reservoir and the Northfield
Watershed.
Additionally, CSU purchases treated
surface water from the Fountain Valley Authority (FVA). FVA receives water from
the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. The Fryingpan-Arkansas Project is a system of
pipes and tunnels that collects water in the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness Area
near Aspen. Waters collected from the system are diverted to the Arkansas
River, near Buena Vista, and then flow approximately 150 miles downstream to
Pueblo Reservoir. From Pueblo Reservoir, the water travels through a pipeline
to the CSU water treatment plant. The water source may vary during the year and
may be a blend of surface water and purchased water.
Available local ground water
sources include two wells on the Denver Aquifer (500-700 feet deep) and two wells
on the Arapahoe Aquifer (900-1000 feet deep).
To view the complete 2016 Water Quality
Report, visit www.csu.org, and click on Residential/About
Us/Water Quality/2016 Water Quality Report. The report is also available on the Peterson
AFB web site here. Customers without web access can obtain a hard copy of the report at the
Bioenvironmental Engineering office located in building 1246. The report will also
be provided to all base dormitory residents.
For questions concerning
water quality issues in the Tierra Vista Community distribution system, please
call the TVC Facility Maintenance Department at 597-5950.
For more information about Peterson
Air Force Base water quality, call Michael Puleo at 556-7721.
(Water quality information courtesy of Colorado Springs Utilities and
Bioenvironmental Engineering)