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<br />CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />The City of Fort Lupton is located east of the South Platte River along Highway <br />85. The City's municipal drinking water was historically supplied from alluvial <br />wells. This well water was used for domestic use as well as irrigation of parks <br />and open space areas. In early 1997, the City shifted its water supply from well <br />water to Colorado Sig Thompson (CST) water when it constructed a 3-million- <br />gallon-per-day (MGD) water treatment plant (WTP). The Town of Hudson <br />participated in 1/6th of this WTP construction. In 2001, the City expanded the <br />WTP to a capacity of 5 MGD. Hudson did not participate in the enlargement. <br /> <br />The City encountered a unique water quality problem when it transitioned to CST <br />water. The well water that was historically delivered through the pipe distribution <br />system had high hardness levels. As a result, this caused a build up of minerals <br />along the pipe walls. When the City changed to the much softer CST supply in <br />1997, the softer mountain water caused the historic build up of mineral deposits <br />to begin to permeate back into the water supply, thus impacting water quality. <br />From 1997 through the summer of 2005, the City blended sufficient well water <br />with the CST to maintain an acceptable level of hardness in the finished water <br />supply to prevent this from occurring. The City performed a water quality study in <br />2005 and ceased the use of groundwater for blending in June 2005. The City is <br />now adding minimal levels of Zinc Phosphate into the mountain water supply to <br />keep the build up intact while providing an improved water supply to its <br />constituents. As the City replaces outdated infrastructure within its distribution <br />system in the future, the use of Zinc Phosphate will reduce and eventually be <br />eliminated. The City continues to use its wells for non-potable irrigation of its <br />parks, schools, open space areas, and its golf course. It also supplies a local <br />power plant (Thermo) with well water. <br /> <br />The Thermo Power Plant is operated by Thermo Cogeneration Partnership and <br />was annexed into the City in 1994. Thermo provides electric power through <br />Public Service throughout the State of Colorado. Thermo uses City well water for <br />cooling of its electric generators. A portion of the water delivered to Thermo is <br />also delivered to the Colorado Greenhouse (CGH) facility to grow vegetables. <br />The total non-potable use from Thermo and CGH nearly equals the City's total <br />potable water use. <br /> <br />Like other Front Range cities, Fort Lupton is slated for significant growth. The <br />need to provide water to meet this growth, coupled with the fact that water is <br />becoming less available and more expensive with time, adds new water <br />challenges for the City. The City recognizes the importance of water <br />conservation and doing its part to preserve water supplies in the region for future <br />generations. Since the City uses mountain water and well water, water <br />conservation for Fort Lupton means potential benefits to both the potable and <br />non-potable supplies. Reduction in well water usage also reduces augmentation <br /> <br />Clear Water Solutions, Inc. <br />City of Fort Lupton <br />2007 Water Conservation Plan <br />