After seven grueling days without safe tap water, Walsenburg residents finally got the news they had been waiting for Friday morning. The city officially lifted the boil water advisory at 10 a.m. on October 11, 2024, after two rounds of state-required bacteriological tests came back clean.
The crisis began Friday, October 4, at about 2 a.m. when a 12-inch transmission line suddenly ruptured somewhere between the water treatment plant and the Cucharas River. The break was massive, gushing an estimated 1,600 gallons per minute while the plant could only produce around 200 gallons per minute during normal demand. Entire neighborhoods lost pressure almost instantly.
Why Finding the Break Was So Hard
Crews knew the general area of the leak but could not pinpoint it for days. The pipe runs through abandoned coal mine workings and unstable ground. Officials feared that digging exploratory holes could trigger a catastrophic sinkhole collapse.
“No water was surfacing anywhere, which made it even tougher,” Mayor Gary Vezzani told reporters earlier this week. “If you puncture the top of a mine void and that’s all that’s holding it together, it could cave in.”
Denver Water sent a specialized team with sonar equipment on Sunday to try to locate the break acoustically. Even that technology struggled because the pipe is buried deep and the terrain is rugged.
Community Steps Up During the Crisis
While crews hunted for the leak, life in Walsenburg ground to a near halt.
Both Walsenburg Jr./Sr. High School and Peakview School stayed closed Monday and Tuesday. Some businesses shut their doors. Restaurants that could stay open served only bottled drinks and pre-packaged food.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife opened the shower facilities at Lathrop State Park on a reservation basis, giving residents a place to bathe. Water tankers parked at the high school and city hall distributed non-potable water for flushing toilets. Semi-trucks full of bottled water rolled in from Pueblo, Huerfano County, and even private donors.
“It’s been rough,” resident Maria Valdez told KKTV on Tuesday. “We’ve been melting snow and boiling river water just to flush. My kids haven’t had a proper shower in days.”
The Breakthrough Near the Cucharas River
The turning point came Monday evening when crews finally located the problem valve near the river crossing. Once they isolated that section, system pressure began climbing almost immediately.
By Tuesday night, most of the city had water pressure again. On Wednesday and Thursday, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment collected samples from 22 locations across town. Both sets came back negative for coliform bacteria.
What Residents Should Do Now
Even though the advisory is lifted, officials recommend the following steps to flush out any stagnant water that sat in home plumbing during the outage:
- Run all cold-water faucets for at least 5 minutes
- Flush hot water tanks and replace ice maker/water filters
- Run dishwashers and washing machines on empty cycles
- Clean faucet aerators and shower heads
Businesses with commercial ice machines or soda fountains should follow manufacturer guidelines for sanitizing.
Mayor Vezzani thanked the community for its patience and praised the crews who worked around the clock.
“This was one of the biggest water emergencies we’ve ever had,” he said Friday. “But we got through it together.”
For the roughly 3,100 residents of Walsenburg, turning on the tap without reaching for a pot to boil water first feels like a small miracle this weekend.
