March 1, 2025

Water is essential to all of our customers, and ensuring it reaches homes and businesses safely, cleanly and efficiently is a complex process. At Little Thompson Water District (LTWD), we take great care in treating and delivering high-quality water to our community while meeting all Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements. But what does that process look like? Here’s a closer look at how water treatment and distribution work in our district and the unique challenges we face in doing so.

The Water Treatment Process

Water quality is our top priority. Every drop of water delivered through our system must meet or exceed EPA standards, which means careful monitoring and testing at every stage. We’ll save how we resource water for another day and focus on the process that occurs at our treatment plants, the Carter Lake Filter Plants. First, untreated water is transmitted from Carter Lake to the Carter Lake Filter Plants, where it undergoes a rigorous testing and treatment process. The process goes as follows:

1. Coagulation flocculation: The process begins by adding coagulants that help small particles stick together into larger particles, making them easier to filter.
2. Filtration: The water moves through a membrane or fine layers of filter media, depending on which of the two plants the water goes to.
3. Disinfection: We add chlorine to the water to kill viruses, bacteria and other micro-organisms that might remain. The amount of chlorine added is carefully monitored, and the residual levels of chlorine are continuously monitored throughout the facilities.
4. Fluoridation: Fluoride naturally occurs in water at the source but the treatment process removes it, so we add more to meet the recommended health levels as recommended by the EPA. 
5. Corrosion control:  Lastly, we add soda ash or sodium hydroxide to balance the pH and a corrosion inhibitor to prevent corrosion.

Testing for Chlorine Levels and Disinfection Byproducts

Some customers might be concerned to learn that we add chlorine to the water. Adding chlorine to the water is a common practice in water treatment and a necessary step of the water treatment process. Chlorine kills viruses, bacteria and other micro-organisms that might remain in the water after the coagulation and filtration steps of the process. We frequently monitor levels for chlorine and disinfection byproducts.  

Disinfection byproducts occur when chlorine reacts with organic matter (the viruses, bacteria and microorganisms) in the water. We closely monitor and adjust chlorine levels to strike the right balance, keeping water safe without creating harmful byproducts. We do create some disinfection byproducts in our water treatment process, but we meet the regulations for safe levels. 

Water Distribution: Moving Water Across a Vast District

Once treated, water must be delivered to homes and businesses throughout our service area, a task that is more complex than it might seem. Most of our customers receive water directly from the treatment plant through an extensive network of transmission lines. However, the process is a bit more involved for those living in the foothills. We rely on storage tanks and pumping stations to move water to these higher elevations. Water is pumped into storage tanks positioned at high elevations, allowing gravity to do the work of distributing water to customers as needed.

This infrastructure is critical in ensuring reliable water service across LTWD’s vast landscape. Our district has undergone a lot of change since its inception in 1961. We used to primarily serve agricultural customers, but over the years, the area has grown with increasing residential areas. Currently, we serve 10,000 residential and 400 non-residential customers throughout our boundaries. The service area generally is bounded by the City of Loveland on the north, Longs Peak Water District on the south, the City of Greeley, the South Platte and St. Vrain Rivers on the east and the foothills on the west. We also expanded to include the former Arkins Water Association in 2000, the Town of Mead in 2002 and the Barefoot Lakes subdivision in Firestone.

The Unique Challenges of Our District

LTWD faces several challenges that make water distribution and maintenance more costly and complex than in many other areas:

• A Large Service Area with Fewer Customers: Unlike more densely populated water districts, LTWD covers a vast geographic area with relatively few customers—600-700 miles of pipeline serving just 25,000 people. This means the cost of maintaining and replacing infrastructure is spread across fewer ratepayers, making it more expensive per customer than a city like Loveland.
• Aging Infrastructure: Many of the pipes in our system are decades old and coming to the end of their lifecycle for the first time in our district’s history. Keeping up with repairs and system upgrades is a constant effort, requiring careful planning and investment.
• Response Time and Logistics: Because our district is so spread out, responding to issues, such as leaks, pressure drops or water quality concerns, takes longer than it would in a more compact system. Our crews work hard to address issues quickly, but distance adds complexity to every repair.

Why Water Treatment and Distribution Matter to You

Understanding how water treatment and distribution work in our district helps shed light on why we make certain decisions—whether it’s rate structures, infrastructure investments or conservation programs. It’s easy to take the water from your tap for granted, but each drop goes through an extensive treatment process and a miles-long distribution journey to get to your faucet. As a special district, LTWD’s sole function is to provide water to customers within our boundaries.

At LTWD, we’re committed to providing safe, reliable and good-tasting water to our customers, no matter how complex the process may be. It takes a dedicated team, extensive infrastructure and ongoing investment, but ensuring high-quality water reaches your home is always our top priority.

For more information on our water treatment and distribution process, visit our water treatment and distribution page or give us a call at (970) 532-2096.