The Eagle River Water & Sanitation District (District) and the Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority (Authority) treat ground and surface water to provide safe, reliable drinking water for local communities. The high quality groundwater in the Eagle River and Gore Creek watersheds requires minimal treatment while surface water requires more treatment in order to remove impurities.
The District and Authority use a variety of drinking water treatment processes most effective for the type and quality of the source waters treated. Once water is treated in one of our state-of-the-art facilities, it travels to your home or business for your use and enjoyment.
The tap water in our service area is fresh, clean, and completely safe to drink
The Eagle River Water & Sanitation District (District) operates two of the most complex public water systems in Colorado. Our location poses many challenges to treating and distributing water to customers, including wide variations in seasonal water demands, limited space for facilities, and rugged topography. The District and Authority provide drinking water to customers in Vail, EagleVail, Arrowhead, Avon, Beaver Creek, Bachelor Gulch, Edwards and Cordillera. Drinking water is provided to customers via a complex network of pipes, tanks and pumping stations called a distribution system. An interconnecting pipeline connects the District’s and Authority’s systems and allows for water transfer between Vail and the communities west of Vail.
The District and Authority are staffed 24 hours per day, 365 days per year by Water Treatment Operators certified by the State of Colorado under Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Guidelines.
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.
The District and the Authority have numerous high quality natural water sources for drinking water. The water treated from sources open to the atmosphere (such as rivers, lakes and reservoirs) is known as surface water. Water pumped from wells drilled into underground aquifers - geologic formations containing water - is called groundwater.
- Eagle River - provides surface water for the Avon Drinking Water Facility and Edwards Drinking Water Facility.
- Gore Creek - supplies surface water to the Gore Valley Drinking Water Facility in east Vail.
- Alluvial Aquifer of Gore Creek - the source water supply for all of the District groundwater wells.
- Fenno Well Field - a seasonal and emergency back-up supply to groundwater wells in the Cordillera Development.
- Eagle River Aquifer - a seasonal groundwater source to the Authority groundwater well system.
The Eagle River Water & Sanitation District and the Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority are public water systems regulated under the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The District and Authority are committed to providing safe, reliable, and affordable drinking water to their customers.
Efforts are continuously made to protect and improve source water, use advanced drinking water treatment technologies, and use innovative approaches for the management of water operations and water resources. The District and Authority strive to effectively integrate drinking water source protection, treatment, and distribution in order to protect public health and the environment.
On an annual basis, public water systems must provide a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), which details the quality of their drinking water. Learn more about your drinking water on the Annual Consumer Confidence Reports page.
Common Sources of Pollution
The water from surface and groundwater sources undergoes drinking water treatment. Drinking water treatment removes contaminants that occur both naturally and through human activities, so that all drinking water complies with strict Federal standards. Generally, surface water systems require more treatment because they are exposed to the atmosphere and runoff from precipitation and melting snow.
Source Water Protection
In 2021, the Eagle River Water & Sanitation District and other community stakeholders completed the Gore Creek Watershed Source Water Protection Plan (SWPP). The SWPP identifies best management practices to further protect the watershed and minimize potential contaminate threats to the source water.
Law Governing Safe Drinking Water
Public water providers like the District and the Authority are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). It is reasonable to expect that drinking water contains at least small amounts of some contaminants. As discussed above, public drinking water is regulated under the SDWA, which establishes limits for contaminants.
Household Wells
While the EPA regulates public water systems, it does not have the authority to regulate private wells. For more information about ensuring the protection and maintenance of private wells, visit the EPA website or call the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791.
Water hardness is due to concentrations of calcium and magnesium in water and is expressed as milligrams per liter (mg/L) of calcium carbonate. Calcium and magnesium are naturally occurring elements found throughout watersheds and are also found in surface and groundwater sources. “Ideal” water hardness for drinking water ranges between approximately 50 to 100 mg/L. Above this level, hardness can contribute to scaling of water heaters and boilers. Water with hardness below this level tends to be more aggressive and can cause deterioration of the inner surface of pipes, eventually leading to pinholes or leaks.
Hardness in the District’s treated drinking water ranges between 160 and 350 mg/L with an average of about 250 mg/L.
Hardness in the Authority’s treated drinking water ranges between 50 and 380 mg/L with an average of about 120 mg/L.
Our drinking water sources are seasonal and, as a result, hardness levels can vary over the course of the year. When groundwater is the main drinking water source, the tendency is to find higher hardness levels due to high contact with underground mineral deposits. When surface water is the source, hardness levels can vary due to the dilution of river water by snowmelt and rainfall as well as less contact with soil minerals. Generally speaking, surface water is softer than groundwater.
A water hardness test kit can be purchased at most local home improvement centers and can be used to set the water softening system to the appropriate level (50-100 mg/L). This will give the benefits of softer water, and help the homeowner avoid problems associated with completely softened or zero hardness water.
Water softeners are used to treat excessive hardness of tap water. Most people choose to install softeners because they prefer the benefits of “soft” water: soap tends to lather more easily, there are fewer spots on dishes, and less detergent is needed for washing. Many of the water softeners installed today are flow-through systems, which remove all hardness. Water that lacks any hardness is considered aggressive and can cause pipe problems over time due to corrosion. One way to avoid this problem is to install a small line with ball valves in the plumbing that allows some water to bypass the softening system.
A common term used in the water softener industry is grains per gallon. Grains per gallon refers to the amount of softening salt grains needed to treat a gallon of water. There is a direct correlation between total hardness and grains per gallon. Simply dividing the total hardness by 17.1 gives the grains per gallon equivalent.