Potable Water
All Pueblo County residents use a public water supply, private well, springs or cistern as their potable water 
supply. The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment has jurisdiction over all public water systems within the State, while the Pueblo City-County Health Department oversees private wells, springs, cisterns and local water vendors.
Our potable water program serves mainly the rural areas of Pueblo County. We inspect and license the water haulers and water vendors in Pueblo County. Water haulers use tank trucks and deliver water to people using cisterns as their potable water supply. Water vendors bottle and sell water to their customers.
The legal authority giving the Pueblo City-County Health Department jurisdiction in these areas are State Statutes CRS 25-1-506 and 507 and Pueblo County Regulation XI. Public water supplies and water vendors are required to meet certain standards to safeguard the quality of water that they provide.
Private water supplies (wells, springs and cisterns) are not legally required to meet minimum standards. The Pueblo City-County Health Department, however, upon request, will inspect and make recommendations as needed to safeguard the quality of potable water in these private supplies.
We have two main objectives in this program. One objective is to inspect and license all water vendors and water haulers in Pueblo County to insure that they are delivering “disease free” potable water to their customers. The other objective of this program is to maintain and disseminate information to people using private water systems so that they can most effectively safeguard their own potable water supplies.
All water haulers which deliver water in tanks mounted on trucks to consumers must be inspected annually and pay a $25 licensing fee. Also, all water vendors, which bottle and sell water to consumers, must be inspected annually and pay a $25 licensing fee. These inspections insure that the equipment and facilities being used are conducive to supplying disease free potable water to their customers.
The private potable water systems that we inspect are not based upon a regulation with specific requirements. Therefore, this service is provided to the public as requested or on a recommendation basis. The only fee charged for this service is the laboratory fee of $18 to test the water samples.
We take water samples from potable water systems to determine the quality and potability of water. These samples are most commonly tested for coliform bacteria. Upon verification of the presence of coliform bacteria in a potable water system, we make recommendations on how to disinfect the supply; how to correct any sanitary defects in the construction of the system; and if needed, how to treat the water to make it safe for human consumption. We also, on occasion, will sample water supplies for mineral or chemical contaminants and make recommendations, as needed, to rectify any potential health hazards in regard to these contaminants.