Overview
Drinking Water Facts
-In one year, the average American household uses over 107,000 gallons of water.
-On average, Americans use more than 100 gallons of water per person each day. Approximately five percent of our home water supply is used for drinking and cooking. Household use increases significantly during the summer months due to irrigation of lawns and gardens.
-About 75 percent of indoor home use occurs in the bathroom, with toilets being the single greatest indoor water using fixture.
-Indoor water use peaks twice a day year-round, occurring in the mornings and evenings.
-Seasonally, water use peaks in the Summer when about half to three-quarters of all municipally-treated water is used for lawn irrigation.
To learn about water conservation and tips on how to use water wisely, please visit our Use Water Wisely page.
From Source to Tap
The safety of the Nation's drinking water is largely due to the introduction of disinfection at the start of the 20th century, which eradicated serious and life-threatening diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever. However, the safety of the Nation's drinking water supplies continues to be challenged by microbiological pathogens and chemical substances found in source waters. The key to protecting health and providing safe drinking water to the public is accomplished by a multi-barrier approach. This strategy involves three broad areas:
Source Water Protection - Since drinking water comes from natural sources in the watershed (groundwater, rivers, lakes, etc.), it is important to maintain the quality of the watershed. Although most water requires some treatment before use, protecting this source water from contamination is an important part of providing safe drinking water to the public. Protecting drinking water sources usually requires the combined efforts of many partners such as public water providers, community, watershed protection groups, governmental agenices and the public.
Drinking Water Treatment – Water is made safe to drink by applying management and engineering practices to remove impurities and maintain water quality to the customer's tap. In order to safeguard public health, it is important that treatment systems be designed and constructed based on the results of source water assessments. Assessments and designs are regularly reviewed and upgraded as necessary. Items considered in designing effective treatment systems include: the quality of source water to be treated, available treatment processes, treatment components (including redundancies), equipment design, chemicals use, treatment efficiency, and monitoring procedures. To learn more about drinking water treatment visit our Drinking Water Treatment Processes page.
Monitoring and Testing – The safety of drinking water is established through compliance with regulatory requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Comprehensive, scientifically defensible, and achievable performance standards, based on recognized principles, are essential to ensuring the efficacy and reliability of treatment technologies. For more information about drinking water quality please visit our website Drinking Water Quality page.
Drinking Water Sources
Water used for processing drinking water is drawn from surface sources and subsurface aquifers. Finished water, or water treated for human consumption, enters the distribution system and is delivered to tanks by pumps located throughout the valley. From there, water is distributed to residences and businesses throughout the valley.
Eagle River
The Eagle River provides surface water for the Avon Drinking Water Facility and Edwards Drinking Water Facility.
Black Gore Creek
The Black Gore Creek supplies surface water to the Gore Valley Drinking Water Facility in east Vail.
Alluvial Aquifer of Gore Creek
The alluvial aquifer of Gore Creek is the source water supply for all of the District groundwater wells.
Fenno Well Field
The Fenno Well field provides a seasonal and emergency back-up supply to groundwater wells in the Cordillera Development.
Eagle River Aquifer
The Eagle River Aquifer is a seasonal groundwater source to the Authority groundwater well system.
Reservoirs:
Black Lakes
The District operates Black Lakes 1 and 2. Both are located near Vail Pass. These lakes deliver water during low flow periods to the Black Gore and Gore Creeks, Eagle River and eventually to the Colorado River.
Eagle Park Reservoir
The District operates Eagle Park Reservoir for the Eagle Park Reservoir Company. This reservoir serves as an augmentation source for the Eagle River and the Colorado River.
Green Mountain & Wolford Reservoir
The District has cooperative agreements with other water providers who operate Green Mountain and Wolford Reservoirs. Water is stored in these reservoirs to augment Colorado River water flow.