Largest water treatment plant in Colorado Springs gets new updates

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)-- Colorado Springs' oldest water treatment plant has some shiny new upgrades. On Wednesday, KRDO13 went on a special tour with Colorado Springs Utilities to see those modifications at the Tollefson water plant.

The Tollefson plant is one of five water treatment plants operated by CSU.

Each plant treats a different blend of water sources and serves different customers in Colorado Springs. The Tollefson plant is the largest in the city. According to CSU, the water plant had aging infrastructure that was no longer cost-effective to repair. Inside the water plant, there are new plant drying beds, a new raw water vault, and indoor basins for better environmental control. All of these help produce about 25 percent of the city's drinking water.

"The local water is more challenging to treat here due to the different times of the year. The runoff creates a lot of sediment that's brought down off of the mountain. We get the fresh snow melt from Pikes Peak, but with that comes a lot of sediment and it's just much more difficult for us to treat. Therefore, these upgrades are very important for us to have and for the efficiency to treat this water," said Chad Sell, Operations Superintendent at CSU.

Employees at CSU said that with these new modifications, they hope to better serve their community.