Manitou Springs officials report improvements in water supply, but still urge water restrictions
KRDO News
MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The City of Manitou Springs says they are getting closer to getting the city out of a water crisis.
Earlier this week, the city said the emergency stemmed from high turbidity levels – or cloudiness – in its primary water source, combined with an unexpected outage of its backup supply. Together, the issues resulted in a much faster depletion of the city’s water reserves than expected, city officials said.
According to the city, the water treatment plant was able to run consistently for 12 hours on Tuesday, which was 4 hours longer than the previous days. They says the plant treated 320,000 gallons of water on Tuesday, though that amount was used by residents that day.
They report that water usage from residents was significantly down compared to usage on the same day in 2024, showing that residents are taking the water restrictions seriously.
“Thanks to reduced runoff and improving turbidity levels, water quality has stabilized slightly. However, storage tanks remain at approximately 50% capacity, and every gallon of conservation still counts. Continued, full participation from residents and businesses is essential to sustaining this positive trend,” wrote the city in a press release.
For now, the city is still asking residents to stop using water unless it is for an essential sanitation or drinking purpose.
Dishwashing and brief, infrequent showers are allowed, though they should only be for essential sanitation. Residents should absolutely not use water for their lawns or car washes.