Key Facts

Denver Water will provide our customers with a reliable, high-quality water supply and excellent service. We will be responsible and creative stewards of the assets we manage. We will actively participate in and be a responsible member of our communities. We will accomplish this mission with a productive and diverse work force.

• A five-member Board of Water Commissioners  is appointed by the Mayor of Denver to staggered six-year terms.
• The Board appoints a Manager who is chief executive officer of day-to-day operations; the Manager also serves as Secretary to the Board.

• Denver Water ensures a continuous supply of water to the City and County of Denver and nearly 50 percent of Denver Water customers who live in the surrounding suburbs (water service contracts)
• It is responsible for the collection, storage, quality control and distribution of drinking water to nearly one-fourth of all Coloradans
• Its primary water sources include: South Platte River, Blue River, Williams Fork River and Fraser River watersheds
• Other water sources include: South Boulder Creek, Ralston Creek and Bear Creek watersheds.
• Denver Water was established in 1918 after Denver residents voted to buy the water system from a private company
• Denver Water is Colorado's oldest and largest water utility
• Denver Water is a separate entity from the city of Denver
• Denver Water derives its authority from the Charter of The City and County of Denver (Article X).

Denver Water proudly serves high-quality water and promotes its efficient use to 1.3 million people in the city of Denver and many surrounding suburbs.

Denver Water serves 1,143,000 people in the Denver-metro area and approximately 150,000 people through fixed and special contracts. 

• Customer accounts served in City and County of Denver: 154,901
• Suburban customer accounts served (wholesale): 77,049
• Suburban customer accounts served (retail): 72,002
• Provides service to 19,185 fire hydrants

• Rates are set by Denver’s Board of Water Commissioners
• Since its inception, the Board has set rates at a level sufficient to service its debt and to meet its expenses of operation and maintenance 
• The Board has never required ad valorem taxes to meet its obligations 
• The city’s charter requires the Board to charge more to customers who live outside the City and County of Denver.

• Denver Water operates from the Water Works Fund, which ensures the separation between city hall and Denver Water. The general city government has no access to the Water Works Fund and Denver Water has no access to the city's general fund. Both funds, however, are accounted for by the city’s auditor.
• It generates revenue from the sale of water to Denver and suburban customers and from the sale of hydropower to electric utility companies. 
• Denver Water’s total operating revenues for 2007: $196 million.

• Miles of water mains (pipelines): 2,675
• Miles of nonpotable pipes in system: 36.5 
• Number of pumping stations: 17 
• Underground reservoirs in various city locations: 34

See Collection System.

• The treatment plants use "conventional" process design consisting of coagulation/sedimentation, filtration and disinfection processes
• Denver Water’s treated water meets or exceeds all the standards set by the state of Colorado and the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

• Marston: 250 million gallons per day
• Moffat: 185 million gallons per day
• Foothills: 280 million gallons per day

• Recycled water is used for industrial purposes and for outdoor irrigation in parks, golf courses and other public spaces.
• Treatment at the Recycle Plant incorporates biologically aerated filtration: coagulation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection, to produce water that meets State regulatory requirements. 
• Recycling water enables Denver Water to use more of the water in its reservoirs to provide drinking water to Denver-area residents.

• Produces 234,000 acre-feet of water a year, which is about one-third of the state's treated water supply. An acre-foot of water equals 325,851 gallons and is enough to serve 2 ½ average households for one year.
• Denver Water uses 2 percent of all water (treated and untreated) in Colorado (265,000 acre-feet per year) 
• The average person in Denver Water’s service area uses 168 gallons of water each day 

Total water use by category:

• 48 percent single-family homes 
• 21 percent business and industry 
• 17 percent multifamily homes 
• 9 percent public agencies 
• 5 percent unaccounted 

Residential water use by category:

• 54 percent landscaping 
• 13 percent toilets 
• 11 percent laundry 
• 10 percent showers and baths 
• 6 percent faucets  
• 5 percent leaks 
• 1 percent dishwashers