New development in Fountain water contamination

A new study has just been released revealing more water contamination problems that could be affecting Fountain Valley. Although the origin of the study has not been disclosed, this new study could relate to Fountain. It shows shows drinking water still contains plenty of toxins despite new filters that were recently installed by Peterson Air Force Base.

A new study conducted by professor Christopher Higgins and his team at the Colorado School of Mines shows that the filters given to Fountain to strain out toxic chemicals from drinking water appear to be susceptible to around two dozen newly discovered compounds.

“The scientific community knew there were likely a lot of other compounds present. And some of these chemicals that are present in the raw water are the things that we only have recently discovered in the last six to nine months,” said Higgins.

The study also found, all of these chemicals are likely to break through a carbon filter faster than other chemicals, meaning the filters need to be replaced much sooner.

It’s hard to tell what kind of threat this poses because there have been no studies done on the toxicity of the water.

The city says the drinking water is safe for now because it’s being pulled from the Pueblo reservoir.

“For our Fountain water customers the water is still safe, it does not have any compounds in it, it’s not coming from the contaminated groundwater,” said Utilities Director Curtis Mitchell.

Two different granular activated carbon filters from the Air Force are being installed this summer.