PUEBLO, Colo. (KOAA) — Pueblo city officials are reassuring residents that their drinking water is safe following two wastewater discharges earlier this week, but advised people to avoid recreational contact with the water in Pest House Gulch, Wild Horse Creek, and the immediate downstream areas for the time being.
Officials from the Pueblo West Metropolitan District said the wastewater discharges occurred Tuesday during planned infrastructure upgrades at the district’s wastewater treatment facility, which is undergoing improvements to modernize its ultraviolet disinfection system.
The first discharge occurred at around 1:13 a.m., according to a news release.
In that first incident, district operators responded to an alert indicating a temporary failure of a contractor-operated bypass pumping system. Officials said that during that brief failure, approximately 54,000 gallons of fully treated but non-disinfected wastewater was discharged through the plant outfall into Pest House Gulch and Wild Horse Creek before district personnel restored operation of the facility’s primary UV disinfection system.
A second operational “complication” occurred later that day during ongoing system adjustments associated with the upgrade project that released approximately 185,000 gallons of partially treated and partially disinfected wastewater into Pest House Gulch and Wild Horse Creek between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., according to officials.
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District officials said personnel immediately responded to both incidents, restoring treatment processes and implementing operational measures to stabilize system performance. Both incidents were reported to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, officials said, and the district is working closely with the contractor to implement additional redundancy measures and safeguards to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Officials said water quality samples were collected and laboratory analysis for E. coli is currently underway but reassured the public drinking water is safe.
“Pueblo West’s drinking water remains safe and unaffected,” a spokesperson for the district said in a statement. “These incidents involved treated wastewater discharges and do not impact the District’s drinking water treatment facilities, distribution system, or drinking water resources.”
Though Pueblo’s drinking water is safe, officials are asking that out of an abundance of caution, people avoid recreational contact with the water in Pest House Gulch, Wild Horse Creek, and the immediate downstream areas while water quality monitoring and testing continue.
District officials said they will provide updates as more information and water quality monitoring results become available.
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