Water

A person bathing a child in the bathtub, with bubbles on their feet

Fort Collins Utilities is committed to providing high-quality, reliable water. Our service area covers about 35 square miles. We serve more than 35,000 customers. We are one of several water providers in Fort Collins.

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Water Quality

Fort Collins Utilities is committed to delivering high-quality drinking water. Our treated drinking water consistently surpasses state and federal standards for purity.

Report a Water Issue

Call 970-221-6700 (24 hours, 7 days a week) to report:

  • Water main breaks
  • Sewer line problems
  • Water quality concerns, including taste or odor issues

Visit this page to learn more about water quality or pressure concerns.

Where Your Water Comes From

Learn more about where your drinking water comes from. 

Water Conservation

Discover how Fort Collins Utilities manages and protects our community’s water. From conservation tips and efficiency rebates to long-term City planning, explore programs designed to help you save water, prepare for drought, and support a sustainable future.

What We Provide You

Water Programs

We offer programs and rebates to help you save water and money on your utility bills.

Water Supply Planning

Fort Collins Utilities manages water supply and demand through careful research and analysis regarding streamflow, diversions, climate, customer demand and population estimates to ensure a clean, reliable water supply for customers now and into the future.

Utilities supplies water to approximately 75% of residents and businesses within the Fort Collins city limits. The remaining customers are serviced by surrounding water districts, including East Larimer County Water District and Fort Collins-Loveland Water District.

Each year, Utilities typically:

  • Delivers an average of around 24,000 acre-feet per year of treated water to customers
  • Uses approximately 3,000 acre-feet of raw water to irrigate Fort Collins' parks, golf courses, cemetery, and other green belt areas
  • Delivers about 4,500 acre-feet of other raw water obligations

Water Treatment

We are committed to providing customers with reliable drinking water of superior quality. Our treated drinking water consistently surpasses state and federal standards for purity.

Our Water Treatment Facility, staffed 24 hours a day by state-certified operators, chemically and physically treats raw (untreated) water to make it safe to drink.

The facility has the ability to treat up to 87 million gallons of water a day. On average in 2020, it treated 23 million gallons a day and peak production was 49 million gallons in one day.

Water Distribution

We maintain: 

  • More than 500 miles of water mains (pipelines)
  • Approximately 12,700 valves and 3,700 fire hydrants
  • Over 35,000 water meters

The quality of our infrastructure and ongoing maintenance and replacement programs are critical to our distribution system. Some of Fort Collins’ pipelines have been in operation for over 100 years and must be upgraded to continue providing safe and reliable water.

Monitoring

Fort Collins Utilities monitors water quality in three areas:

  • Source water supply: Upper Cache la Poudre River and Horsetooth Reservoir (where our water comes from)
  • Treated drinking water
  • Treated water returned to the environment and the Lower Poudre River above and below the water reclamation facilities

Since the late 1980s, Utilities has monitored the water quality of our drinking water sources before they reach the water treatment facility. Water quality monitoring is an important tool to proactively track changes and identify pollution sources. Collecting and accessing data helps the City of Fort Collins meet drinking water treatment goals.

Wastewater Reclamation

Fort Collins Utilities provides wastewater reclamation services for Fort Collins through two facilities. Together, these facilities have a treatment capacity of 29 million gallons per day. Our advanced operations, leadership and values allow us to return treated water to our community that exceeds public and environmental health regulatory criteria.

The water reclamation facilities, staffed by state-certified operators, use an array of physical, biological and chemical processes to treat wastewater. The facilities discharge to the Cache la Poudre River and Fossil Creek Irrigation Ditch. The removed solids in the treatment process are digested to meet strict state and federal standards for organic and pathogen removal. Generated Class B biosolids are dewatered and applied as a beneficial soil amendment at Meadow Springs Ranch.

Industrial Pretreatment Program

Businesses that operate industrial processes are subject to pretreatment regulations and may be required to obtain an industrial discharge permit. 

Our Industrial Pretreatment Program controls the discharge of wastewater pollutants from industrial and commercial sources to:

  • Protect the quality of receiving water and biosolids
  • Prevent interference with wastewater treatment and infrastructure
  • Protect worker health and safety

Other commercial wastewater considerations include:

  • Mercury control
  • Septic waste disposal
  • Grease control
  • Fermented beverage waste disposal

Contact the program administrators by emailing industrial_pretreatment@fortcollins.gov.